Book 2 of The Tracker Dragons' Hoard
by Robin deLynn
Summary: Raxtus wanted a normal life, taking a human name and trade, Leander the Tracker. Raxtus and his mother are both assumed dead. After all this time, who would care if dragons were alive or dead? Unless they wanted both dragon hoards.
1. Chapter 1

The Well's Tale

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Luckily, when Leander opened his eyes he was still alive. He found himself flat on his back in a large bed, staring at the ceiling. From the sounds entering his room he realized he was probably on the second floor in a guestroom somewhere near Kendra's bedroom. He wanted to call out but found himself too weak to speak much less lift his head. He only had to wait a few minutes until his room filled with the smiling faces of his friends and a tray of food.

In his rushed attempt to save his friend Kendra from a demon and its poison, Leander had called on all of his previously unavailable power and sent it in one massive spell which burst against the demon. Fortunately, the magic killed it … well more like shattered it into confetti. The astonishing power he released burst the nine foot tall demon into thousands of tiny green flaming hailstones, scattering its remains over an acre of meadow. Since he also suffered from the demon's poison, his spontaneous reaction had drained not only his magical energy but also tapped into his life energy and weakened him to the point of death. Due to Bracken's quick intervention, he was alive.

Leander was happy to hear that Kendra was recovering quite rapidly from the demon's poison due to of Bracken's skillful use of his healing powers, strengthened by the potent aid of his unicorn horn. Leander's recovery on the other hand was much slower. Though Bracken quickly repaired the poison's damage, Leander's physical strength was much slower to return, due to his inexperienced and panic-driven use of unknown magic. His drained body wasn't rapidly responding to conventional or even their unconventional healing attempts. All that left was patience, he needed time to rest and restore. The quiet voice of his magic was silent and gone was the feeling of magical energy returning.

His appetite, on the other hand, hit him with a voracious intensity. Weak as he was he needed help eating but it seemed even if he ate all day, he couldn't eat enough. His stomach would grumble hungrily within a half an hour of eating a full meal. He was eating five times a day and he remained thin. Surprisingly, the swift return of his physical strength still evaded him.

While Leander was recovering, Seth wanted to find out who had sent the wraith and demon to attack Leander. Leander was only a tracker, as far as anyone else knew, so why would someone send a wraith to attack him and such a vicious demon to insure he was dead. Seth was convinced that the 'flavor' of the wraith, hovering above the little barn before the demon appeared, was the essence of the Blackwell in the Wyrmroost Preserve.

Seth's Shadow Master Skills allowed him to question the wraith, though certain questions the wraith was unable to answer. Seth's formidable skill and the obviously overriding control of its master condemned the wraith to annihilation rather than reveal his master's name. Seth flinched remembering the wraith's shriek during its last moments as it shredded itself into oblivion. Seth decided he needed to speak to the inhabitants of the Blackwell.

Without Celebrant's permission he would not be able to get access to Wyrmroost, the Keep or especially the well. The only way to convince Celebrant that Seth would not be in danger was to reveal that he was a Shadow Master.

Celebrant, of course, did not believe him even when Unleea tried to confirm it. She explained the events during the demon war that led to his promotion to his new title along with details of Seth's control. Celebrant remained unconvinced until Seth's single phone call brought the infamous Shadow Charmer formerly known as the Sphinx to a video conference.

The Shadow Charmer was now going by Bekele, his Ethiopian birth name, meaning 'he has become' or 'he has grown'. He was now an 'Ancient', one of the living protectors of the demon prison. The fact that Seth made one call and Bekele complied immediately without delay was without precedent. Bekele, when known as the Sphinx, was one extremely elusive guy. Previously days, even weeks, could go by without a reply from him.

The notion that Bekele wouldn't respond promptly never enter Seth's mind. Seth now knew that Bekele had realized what he had become as soon as he acquired his power. During negotiations that made it possible for the Sphinx to become one of the Ancients, Bekele had been quiet, even subdued. He attempted nothing that would have given Seth a reason to question him and possibly use his authority against him. He wanted to get far away from Seth before Seth himself became aware of his newly acquired abilities.

Talking first to Celebrant, Bekele tried to deny that he knew of Seth's status when he saw him just after the demon war. Seth moved within view of the webcam and Bekele's attitude changed abruptly, he retracted his previous statement. He became respectful and courteous, acknowledging Seth's status.

Celebrant could see the power that Seth had to compel Bekele to be truthful. Celebrant had lived long enough to remember past Shadow Masters. They had considerable power over all shadow beings but the very strongest or greater demons. The dark non-corporal beings trapped in the well, (by previous Shadow Masters) would, by definition, be no threat to Seth.

Seth didn't want to lord over Bekele as much as it might have appealed to him when he was younger and very angry at the man. Learning through Unleea a Shadow Masters fundamental power and the horrible things past Shadow Masters had done prevented him from being a jerk. Through hard won acts of bravery against evil, he'd gained the ability. He learned early that just because he was a shadow charmer didn't mean he was evil. The fact that Bekele, though reluctantly, acknowledged his legitimate power was enough for him since it had the desired outcome of convincing Celebrant.

Celebrant grudgingly left his mate in Fablehaven to take Seth to Wyrmroost. During the trip, Celebrant remained in human form. They discussed few things but on one subject, Celebrant was persistent. He desperately wanted to know who cast the spell at the little barn. When he had arrived on the scene, the scattered icy hailstones still sparked and burned with green fire across the meadow. He was in awe of the damage done to the demon.

Seth, feigning ignorance but still telling the truth, admitted he hadn't seen who was responsible. He did deny that it was Kendra, since he knew the demon had poisoned her before the spell flew past him.

Celebrant was unhappy that Seth would or could not tell him what he desperately wanted to know. He verbally speculated that it might have been Bracken, perhaps a combination of spells. He watched Seth's face attentively looking for any subtle reaction to his speculations but he was disappointed.

To Seth's relief, he seemed to accept that Leander could not have cast the spell for he didn't even ask about the tracker.

The helicopter landed in a small clearing in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere. They got out and watched the helicopter take off again. Seth was watching it fade into the distance when a bright light flashed behind him. He knew Celebrant the Just, the huge platinum dragon was behind him. He heard the great beat of massive wings and a violent gust of wind almost flattened him. He closed his eyes against the dust filled air and felt Celebrant rise above him blocking the light from above.

He held his arms up over his head and a very large clawed foot gently grasped him from armpit to knee. A second later Seth was in the air flying toward something he could not look at. Where ever they were heading, he desperately wanted to avoid it.

"Turn around, this isn't where I need to go," he shouted uselessly. He struggled, pulling at the huge scaled digits wrapped around him but he was at the mercy of the huge dragon. He was certain they traveled in the wrong direction.

As soon as they crossed the sanctuary boundary, Seth's mind and sight cleared. He sighed with relief, seeing the huge mountains in the distance unshrouded by illusion and distraction. The forbidding presence of Blackwell Keep the huge dark stone structure was much closer.

At the deepest darkest center of the keep was the reason for the forbidding fortress, the black well. An insidious fear more powerful than dragon terror protected the oval room where a seemingly bottomless pit confined evil spirits for thousands of years. They could not get out on their own someone had to release them.

Whoever had called the wraith and sent it to the little barn was someone with power over it. To allow only one to escape from the well was a great feat. The list of whoever's was short. Seth wondered if there was another but unknown Shadow Master in the world. An ancient wizard might have the power. Agad said he could release the well's prisoners if he needed them in dire circumstances but controlling the hoard to release just one prisoner might be a bit tricky. The only other culprit would be a greater demon, something Seth didn't want to contemplate. Hopefully Zzyzx, the demon prison, had all of them locked away.

Seth had followed the fearful voices there once years ago and had known not to let them free no matter what they promised. Agad the wizard, Wyrmroost's Caretaker at the time found him near the edge of the well. He told Seth about the well and that the entities imprisoned there could not be trusted. Even though Seth was new at being a shadow charmer, he had already figured that out by the time Agad found him.

Seth wondered how Agad knew he could control them and if he had made them do anything in the past. He considered that maybe Agad had gotten more expertise and if he could control them other wizards might also have the ability. He didn't want to believe that the new leader of the sanctuary system could be the one who tried to kill Raxtus.

Seth felt the 'flavor' of their energy during that visit and was certain that the wraith floating above the little barn had come from there. Using all the power at his command, he meant to find out who had called the wraith and controlled the demon. He would find the answer – if those in the well knew it.

Celebrant's wings stirred the ground and dirt flew making Seth close his eyes again as the large dragon prepared to land. Celebrant settled Seth's feet on the ground first. He felt himself released from the firm cool grip as he heard the scrapping of the dragon's clawed feet touch down one at a time. Even with closed eyes, Seth saw the bright flash of light that signaled a change in the dragon's form.

"Home," the man sighed happily as he walked around Seth and led the way to the entrance of the keep. Seth knew he was not referring to the keep but to Wyrmroost and followed him into the forbidding structure.

They made their way to the great hall, Seth could hear whispers from the well but he also heard whispers from inside the keep. Other more benign spirits haunted the halls of this place other than the evil that dwelled in the well. He had noticed them when they were here earlier searching for conspirators but had kept his mind on their mission. Maybe he would find out about the other spirits. Maybe they knew something that the spirits in the well didn't. At least they wouldn't have the same agenda. He also noticed that their energy didn't have the same vibration or 'flavor' that the spirits from the well had. Now in the keep, he was absolutely sure that the wraith had come from the Black well.

Celebrant ignored all the frantic activity around his unexpected arrival and took Seth to a small room, closing the door behind them. It looked like an office from a nineteen forties movie set. Dimly lit by a small desk lamp, a large desk sat in the center of the room. On the desk, wire baskets actually held paper files, and several new ball point pens sat next to the large desktop calendar which had the current month showing. Tall, slightly rusty, beige file cabinets lined the wall. Seth laid his hand on the top of the desk and felt the tingle of passive magic.

Celebrant opened the top drawer and removed an old ornate key. The key was to the solid iron door to the chamber behind which the well was located. The door to the well had been open when he had visited the well those years ago, but now he needed the key. It was presently a spell-locked door and only this key would open it. Seth's considerable lock picking skills wouldn't work on the door lock.

Celebrant held the key in one hand and made a curious incomprehensible sound. Another identical key appeared in his other hand.

"This will open the door once to allow you entrance to the well room. You need no key to leave the room even if the door closes.

"Be very careful Seth. Even with the skills and power of a Shadow Master the spirits can be treacherous," Celebrant told him kindly. "I shouldn't have to remind you to stay well away from the chain."

"No, I am only going there to ask questions. I have much more confidence than I had before. They didn't trick me then they cannot trick me now," he said self-assuredly.

Seth pulled out two flashlights, no use going into the darkness unprepared. He had lost his flashlight down the well last time. Besides, he knew that the pervasive fear created by the well prevented almost everyone from getting too close. He expected to be quite alone once he entered the downward stairway.

Several minutes later Seth left the stairwell and walked toward the well room. The prisoners didn't know he could hear them all along. When he reached the turn in the last hallway, their beseeching moans and gibbering cries ramped up. He heard their most plaintive cry, 'the chain, the chain, send down the chain.'

"Quiet," he whispered and an unsettling silence fell. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Unlike the first time when it had pounded with a certain amount of fear of the unknown, his heart pounded with the expectation of discovery.

He walked in silence the rest of the way to the corroded iron door, remembering the cavern-like room with the gaping black hole in the center. Aiming the flashlight, he put the key in the lock. He cleared his mind to look at the lock, to see if he could figure how the spell worked. He saw nothing until the key turned, the mechanism was blocked or shielded from his ability. The lock was simple once the spell was gone. He could have easily opened it but the spell prevented him from seeing the lock's mechanism. _Clever_, he thought. He pushed the door open and as he removed the key from the lock, it degenerated into dust.

He walked over the threshold into the oval room leaving the door hanging open and the oppressive chill hit him. It didn't affect him mentally but he knew it was there. Still, the physical chill from the bottomless cavern was unsettling. Seth stood for a moment and gathered his thoughts. He needed information. He needed them to tell him what they knew. There were thousands of whispering voices in the well. He couldn't listen to them one at a time it would take forever.

_Okay, it's better to listen to the cacophony_. _You need to listen for names, key words, anything out of the ordinary, _he thought, both preparing and cautioning himself. _They will say almost anything to get you to release them but you more or less know what to listen for. Probably nothing will come of this. But maybe one of them will be jealous enough of the one who escaped to say something, thinking it will get special treatment and be released also._

"I need the name of whom or whatever called the wraith from the well, also the name of one who controls the demon," Seth said calmly "Begin now…".

The whispers came fast and furious. He staggered back at the noise. He listened but heard mostly their begging for release, hunger, and the ever present cries for the chain. They whispered the names Celebrant, Agad, and Seth over and over again.

They knew him. They had remembered him. It made him hopeful that maybe they remembered another name too. But nothing unusual came from the well.

Seth stood shaking his head aware now that they probably knew nothing when he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his side. He reached for the pain and felt warm dampness and a blade sticking out of his ribs. He swiftly aimed his flashlight toward the door and saw a shadow fleeing down the hallway.

"Stop! Now!" he commanded the fleeing figure, gasping in pain. The whispers stopped coming from the well and the creature in the hallway fell to the ground.

Seth sent his mind to search the fallen creature and found the mind blank but he also recognized the tenuous link of a narcoblix. His command had followed the link and stopped the blix too.

With great effort, Seth clouded the blix's mind and severed the link on the blix's side but instead of letting the link go, he found that he held the link to the body of the creature lying on the floor.

This was something he had never done before but he was desperate. He needed help so for good or bad he had to experiment. He ordered the body to come to him… it did. It got off the floor and slowly walked toward him. Suddenly he could see through the eyes of the female wood nymph.

Through her eyes, he looked at his wound and found it superficial. The knife hadn't penetrated; it was wedged between two ribs and the bleeding gash was very painful. He had the wood nymph remove the knife and tear up its clothing to bandage his wound. He felt a little better with the pressure of the bandage around his ribs.

Abruptly, he wondered who else knew he was there. His mind swept over the many creatures who had fawned over Celebrant when they first arrived but Seth knew he had left in the shadows and no one would have seen him head for the entrance to the well. Still, he couldn't go back to Celebrant now. Though it was hard to believe, he or someone close to him set the ambush. Everyone knew of the dangers of the Black well. Whoever arranged this attack knew no one would suspect Celebrant of having anything to do with Seth's death or disappearance.

Seth needed to get home without Celebrant or his attackers knowledge. Fairies near the shine could get a message to Bracken.

"Take me to the Fairy Queen's shrine," he said to the wood nymph as he released some of her free will back to her. His view through her eyes vanished.

"I cannot go there," she said shakily, the fear emanating from the well almost overpowered her. He took a hold of her arm bolstering her resistance. She relaxed as the relief from fear allowed her to move normally.

"Then take me as close as you can get, as fast as you can," he ordered her.

"I release the order of silence to those in the Black well," he said and the whispers began again, this time there were new names and different whispers coming from the well.

The wood nymph picked him up. Her large limb-like hands cradled him awkwardly. She held his hips in one hand and grasped his shoulders with the other and pressed him against her narrow tree trunk-like body. Once she had him settled against her, she ran the length of the hallway away from the well, upward through different corridors than he knew. He heard the echo of the well door slam shut behind them. Rounding several bends in the hallway, they left the stone walls of the keep behind and were moving through natural caves.

Seth could still hear the cries from the well. As more voices joined the cacophony, Seth heard new names and a few interesting expressions before the gibbering voices began repeating earlier chants finally revolving back to their familiar wail for 'the chain'.

Seth smiled. He had his clues. He no longer suspected Celebrant but he also knew he couldn't head back to upper floors of the keep. It would be dangerous for him, especially in his condition. He doubted he could make it to the ground floor alive much less get back to Celebrant.

The wood nymph was tree-like but she had soft mahogany flesh over her dense muscles and gnarled bones. Her dainty limb-like hands and fingers made throwing a knife extremely difficult which was probably why he was not badly injured. As soon as they passed through a cave-like exit into the open air, he felt a chill evening breeze but her body warmth kept him comfortable.

She ran easily with him, she was stronger than her thin frame would have led him to believe. He looked up at her ageless face, mahogany skin complimented by darker mahogany hair and eyes. She was running unwaveringly, staring straight ahead watching the way.

Even at this pace, he knew the shrine was over an hour's run from the keep. Though it was difficult with the awkward way she was holding him, he tried to relax. Eventually he fell asleep for a few moments. He immediately awoke to the smell of breakfast but feeling the bouncing gate of the running wood nymph, he knew that it was impossible.

He opened his eyes and saw that a tree was now carrying him. He was upset with himself he had fallen asleep and now couldn't see her as she had been. He had no milk nor walrus butter to see the magic world. He still had the mental link with her though_. One blessing in this mess_, he thought as his side ached terribly.

He wondered where the smell was coming from when something splashed on his face. She had him pressed tightly between tiny knobs in her trunk and they were leaking sap. He smelled the sweet odor of something similar to maple sap. The amber fluid was dripping and as she ran it splattered against her trunk. Some of the fluid splashed on his face running down onto his lips. He tried not to taste it but even as he tried to spit, new splashes hit his open mouth.

"Seth, you are disgusting," he mumbled to himself as he tasted the liquid on his tongue, then he licked his lips savoring more of the sweet sap. It tasted really, really good and the pain in his side subsided. "I hope this doesn't poison me," he sighed.

"It won't hurt you and it might help you," she thought through the link.

A few minutes later, she came to a stop. "This is as far as I can go," she thought to him, her internal voice strong and proud in his mind.

Seth couldn't see the path to the shrine but knew that there should be fairies around even if he couldn't see them at the moment.

"Thank you," he said wearily, still licking the sweet sap from his lips. She was right it did make him feel less pain. "I hope you didn't like the blix because I damaged him," he admitted. He knew he could reassert his power over her mind in a blink if she reacted badly.

"No, I was his slave and did not want to be," she thought easily. The long run didn't seem to have worn her out in any way. Seth was relieved when she spoke truthfully.

He wiped some of the sap off his face and neck, licking it off his fingers. He used his shirttail to clean off his face. He winced at the ache in his side, but his overall pain was much less.

"You can set me down here," he decided. She carefully placed him on the ground. Sitting was too much for him at the moment. "Lay me flat please," he asked knowing he wouldn't be able to do it himself without opening his wound. She'd laid him flat on the ground. Looking up at the motionless nymph, without the benefit of the effects of Viola's milk; she looked exactly like a stunted moss covered tree. Using the blix's link, he had compelled her to use her simple dress to bind his wound so she didn't appear very humanlike. He wondered what his mind would have transformed the fabric into if it had still been on her. More moss?

"I wish I could free you from him but I can't. All I tell you is that it may be a long time before he recovers and can use his skills again. You may want to pay him a visit soon and ensure your own freedom," he said as way of payment for her assistance.

The brutal thought that flashed across her mind made Seth shudder.

"Thank you," she murmured. "If you ever need my help in Wyrmroost again don't hesitate to ask although I doubt," a wicked laugh sounded in her mind, "I will be at Blackwell Keep. I am S'charuma, just whisper my name to the trees and they will get the message to me."

He removed the link with her mind and she was free.

"Thank you, S'charuma. Safe journey," he said aloud. He wouldn't be able to hear her now if she replied.

The strange looking moss-covered leafless tree quivered then fluttered away as if wind tossed then disappeared into the night. His mind processed the sight with care into something it could cope with rather than what he actually saw. Seth was amazed what the human mind could do. Even though he actually knew what was happening, his mind kept him from seeing it.

Seth listened and heard only normal night sounds. He needed to get fairy help soon. He couldn't protect himself in his condition. If only he had his emergency kit, he had potions that would fix him right up and there was walrus butter in there too. He felt like such an idiot, it was sitting in the office next to the old desk.

"Hello? Hello? I'm a friend of Bracken … um and Kendra … and um Raxtus … Hello? Any fairies out there?" he called out softly, knowing fairies would hear him. He was also hoping that he was near enough to the Fairy Queen's shrine that predators would not be close enough to hear him.

Seth waited as the minutes ticked by listening carefully for any encouraging sounds. Again he called and listened. He didn't know how long he had waited when he felt the rush of air over him and a huge golden brown owl landed silently on the ground in front of him, having seen one before he recognized the large owl as an Astrid. The owl looked at him curiously, while cocking his head one way then the other. Its large golden brown eyes blinked and it softly hooted at him.

"Sorry, I fell asleep so I can't see who you are but I need to get a message to Bracken. He is waiting for my information. I was wounded and got here the only way I could," he said trying to sit up but the pain in his side was worse.

The Astrid nodded its head, put out one wing and made a long smooth stroke up the hillside toward the shrine then pointed at the sky with the tip of his wing.

Seth assumed that it meant he was going to carry him closer to the shrine. He returned the nod. "Yes, please," he replied.

The big golden owl lifted off the ground, hovered above him and picked him up. Seth couldn't see how he did it. He couldn't feel what held him but he knew that it was okay. He felt safe. The Astrid would not hurt him. He wondered if he knew this particular Astrid but he wouldn't know until he got some magic milk or walrus butter into his system.

Seth and the Astrid were about ten feet off the ground when the air suddenly erupted with hundreds of birds and countless large insects. They attacked the owl with a ferocity Seth had never seen before. The owl twirled in the air trying to avoid the attack and forgot its grasp on Seth.

Although a few birds left the attack and grabbed at his shirt and jeans in a futile attempt to keep him from plummeting to the earth Seth fell and hit the stony ground with his arm twisted under him. He heard bones snap and the sharp shock of pain ran up his arm and across his chest.

Watching the Astrid also fall from the sky covered with a blanket of camouflaged fairies, he knew he had been deceived. This was one of the three Astrids that had not returned to the Fairy Queen during the demon war, the Astrid belonged to the enemy.

Seth passed out as the great screaming mass of birds and bugs fell and landed atop his broken body.


	2. Chapter 2

Recovery

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Bracken followed Ruth into the second best guestroom where he would find Seth. The last time he visited the room Leander had been the patient. Seth lay asleep in the bed, his face covered with dark bruises, now turning green and yellow at the edges, his splinted arm half hidden under the blanket.

Slumped in a chair next to the bed Leander sat sound asleep. Bracken could tell he was still recovering. Even in relaxed asleep, dark rings circled Leander's eyes marring his pale face, a visual indication of his almost fatal fatigue.

"He's been with him since they brought him home," Kendra said softly as she approached from behind, pointing at Leander. "He vacated the bed but he hasn't left the room. I found him curled up asleep on the floor next to the bed this morning."

Then she whispered in Bracken's ear. "He acts like a loyal dog instead of a human. Could it be a dragon thing?"

Bracken turned, smiled at Kendra and whispered back. "No, I think it's a loyal friend thing."

Leander stirred somehow aware of their quiet intrusion into the room. Instantly awake, he opened his eyes to see Seth still asleep then noticed Ruth and Bracken at the door, Kendra peering around Bracken's shoulder.

"Come on in," he said in a normal voice as he sat up straight and smiled. "Seth won't wake up unless Grandma Larsen lets him. I'm glad you're here Bracken."

Leander stretched and stood up. He was waiting for the moment when Seth would be well enough to awaken so he could be of assistance to his friend. He wanted Seth to tell him what had happened at the well, how he got his wounds and found his way so far from the Keep. He was anticipating an exciting tale; Seth's were always the best.

It had been two days since the fairies rescued Seth from the rogue Astrid who was attempting to kidnap him. Urgent fairy messages sent through the nearby shrine garnered immediate help from friendly Fae creatures who rescued Seth and brought him home quickly.

Fairies had healed him somewhat and eased his pain but they had not paid attention to details. His grandmother decided to break and reset his arm bones while he was unconscious. He awoke in the midst of the brutal but normal human medical procedure screaming from the pain. There were offers of healing magic but Seth refused saying if he did not suffer he would not learn from his mistakes.

Leander knew Bracken was arriving today to interrogate the Astrid. He could help Seth by healing him, _if_ Seth was ready to end his self-imposed punishment. So for the time being his grandmother kept him sedated, sleeping peacefully.

Now Bracken was here.

The captive rogue Astrid was in a cell in the dungeon of Fablehaven. He refused to speak but everyone knew he was one of the three surviving Astrids that had not returned to aid the Fairy Queen in the fight against the demons when Zzyzx opened.

Bracken's task was to get him to speak. An involuntarily shiver ran through him as he climbed down the stairs to the Fablehaven basement. This was the most unpleasant task his mother assigned him since his release from the dungeons of the Mystic Mirage sanctuary. After spending centuries in that dungeon, the last thing he wanted to do is enter one voluntarily, even if it was just to speak to a prisoner.

Bracken entered the dungeon, his boots made a crunching noise in the packed dirt floor. He smelled the goblin 'guards' but they stayed out of sight. He walked down the dark narrow hallway and found the cell that held the prisoner. He looked through the barred door; the interior of the cell was dark and shadowy. Bracken called forth a small faint orb of light and sent it into the darkness. Lying on the floor against the back wall was a large lump of bloodied and twisted feathers.

"Your name," Bracken demanded.

The feathers moved sluggishly. A closed eyed, bloodied human-like face rotated toward him.

"Peritrus," it answered before opening its eyes. When it saw who was standing outside the door of his cell the Astrid scrambled to its feet. Using its torn wings to aid it in standing the wounded Astrid gasped with pain but finally got to its feet. Folding its ruffled wings into place as best it could the Astrid humbly bowed before the Prince.

"Come forward traitor Peritrus, dishonored King's guardian and failed warrior. I hear you have no broken bones," Bracken ordered harshly.

Injured by the names he was being called but knowing he deserved them and probably more, the wounded prisoner limped forward. His dark eyes glued on the face of someone he never thought he would see again. After disappearing hundreds of years earlier and the searches yielded no results, no one expected the Prince to be found alive. The Prince was actually here and alive, Peritrus felt relief that the most recent rumors were true. His curiosity about where the Prince had been was brightly burning in his mind but he knew that his questions would have to wait until he answered for his past crimes. He was also relieved that it was Bracken interrogating him, there would be no torture, and if Bracken was as compassionate as everyone said there would be no more pain. He lowered his eyes as he approached the cell door.

Bracken squatted in front of the cell door, reaching through the wards that kept the prisoner restrained.

"Your foot please, Peritrus," Bracken requested.

Peritrus raised his foot as requested but lost his balance and fell over onto his side. A screech of pain erupted from his throat as he fell onto his damaged wing. With an embarrassed groan, he stretched his leg and placed his wounded foot in Bracken's palm.

Bracken closed his eyes and felt the damaged body through the contact. Using his power of healing, he slowly knitted the injured flesh back together. He heard sighs of relief coming from the disgraced fairy warrior. Soon the Astrid stood, using his repaired wings to right himself and then he lowered his body in a deep ceremonial bow.

"I really was trying to help the boy, my Prince," the Astrid, Peritrus, claimed despondently from his genuflecting position. Bracken still held one of the Astrid's taloned feet in his hand. The normally serene human face on the large golden owl-like body was sullen with frustration.

"Why were you in Wyrmroost?" Bracken asked evenly. Both he and the Astrid knew there could be no lies between them.

"One of my brothers heard that Wyrmroost had no human caretaker, that the dragons had the run of the place. To them it seemed a good place to remain hidden," Peritrus hung his head. "I regret my former rebellion. I have no excuses but that my older brothers too easily influenced me. The fact that I betrayed my Queen further by not returning when she called all Astrids to battle made my heart heavy. When I heard of the King's fate… that he still lived. I have thought of nothing else but to find a way to get back into their good graces.

"I left my former brothers to their fate and went in search of some way to do so. Being at Wyrmroost at the right time was a serendipitous occurrence. I heard the boy call out your name and grasped the opportunity to give aid. I thought I could help him, get him farther from dangerous predators and closer to the fairies that stay near the shrine. I knew that they would contact you. Unfortunately, the fairies thought I had wicked ulterior motives.

"I am sorry that the boy fell during the fight. Will he fully recover?" He spoke respectfully and clearly and was truly concerned for Seth's wellbeing. As he spoke, the Astrid did not look up at Bracken, keeping his head bowed. He made no attempt to disguise or alter his emotions, even those for his brothers, which were a confused combination of brotherly respect tempered by betrayal and deep resentment.

"Mmm, he's doing well enough." Bracken admitted. Peritrus nodded and Bracken could feel relief flow through the Astrid's emotions, calming him significantly. He knew the truth of the Astrid's deep feelings but double betrayal such as his was not easy to forgive. Being truly repentant was one thing but he would have to earn their trust.

"Our Queen told me that if you were repentant and I was sure of that repentance then your job was to protect Seth's life with your own. For how long depends on how long his life is in danger. Only then will she consider a change in your status," he said plainly, releasing Peritrus' foot.

"And if I wasn't repentant?" Peritrus asked curiously, peeking up at his Prince's face, secure in the knowledge that Bracken knew he was only curious about the punishment his Queen had in store for his possible attempted kidnapping of Seth, a possible third betrayal.

"Then you would have to get used to the cage you are in now or somewhere even less appealing, for you would never leave it," Bracken stated frankly.

"Fair enough," he nodded boldly looking at his Prince for the first time. Hers was a more benevolent punishment than he would have expected if he had actually meant to do Seth harm. The return of the Queen's husband seemed to have tempered her bitterness toward him and his kind.

"You realize that after leaving here and you fail her again you will not end up in a cell," Bracken warned him. "Nor will you be allowed the freedom of exile. I will _personally_ hunt you down." He suggestively placed his hand on the hilt of the sword sheathed on his hip.

Peritrus nodded his head recognizing the solemn forewarning.

"Yes. I knew that my life was forfeit either way when I attempted to help the boy, but I could not continue as I was. My two brothers were terrified when we heard the Queen's call to return and fight at Zzyzx. They were sure she would use us as demon fodder for our betrayal. Though we deserved no less, I let their fear of influence me. I remained with them until I learned of what took place. I was horrified that I hadn't been there to give aid. After hearing that the King lives… I …well… Overjoyed is the only word I can use to express my feelings. Living without the grace of my Queen after failing my King was agony. I left them to their exile and went in search of redemption or execution.

"I know where my heart belongs," he bowed to Bracken his pale beak-like nose almost touched the ground before he raised his head again.

"I will give Seth the power to grant you your warrior avatar if he needs that type of assistance. Your avatar form will only last 24 hours before you return to your natural form unless he specifically extends the change," Bracken informed him.

"On my life, I will give my all to keep Seth Sorenson's life from danger," he pledged heartily, bowing again.

"That may be harder than you think, Peritrus," Bracken chuckled. "The boy is a Shadow Master and will undoubtedly run across many unpleasant entities. Besides that, he is a complicated kid who doesn't like being told what to do or where to go. No one knew where he had gone, so take where and how you found him as a serious warning. We are still unsure of how he got out of the Keep. He will be difficult to keep track of much less keep safe. His natural skills and unpredictability will keep you on your toes."

"Yes my Prince, I will keep that in mind," Peritrus responded confidently.

Bracken stood, touched Peritrus on the forehead, and the Astrid took on his warrior form. Then he released the wards from of the cell before he unlocked the door.

"Come with me to meet Seth," he invited.

Peritrus sighed with relief, he had not been in his avatar form for too many years and it felt good. He removed his helmet and raked his hand through his long blonde hair then scrubbed his hand across his profoundly masculine face. He stretched the strong dense muscles under his armor and followed his Prince out of the dungeon.

Seth recovered quickly after Bracken arrival. Healed of his wounds and broken bones and getting a good night's sleep Seth was ready for adventure.

"The best way for you two to get back your strength and stamina is to swim," Mrs. Larsen stated early the next morning after she had checked on both of them and declared them healthy.

"I vaguely remember you trying to get me into the pool quite a few times," Leander smiled at Seth as the hazy humorous memory of Seth asking him to swim repeatedly suddenly became clear. He uncannily recalled Raxtus' desperate wish that he could someday swim with his friend and the discovery of the four-leaf clover Kendra found crushed under his chin shortly after making his wish. She asked him if he wanted to make a wish and he declined. At the time, he thought his wish was so far beyond impossible that it was even ridiculous to envision it ever happening. Never would he have imagined that just over a year later it would actually come true.

"I guess I won't cause half the pool to empty now," he whispered then laughed happily, as they changed into swim shorts.

"I remember that," Seth chuckled. "I bet I can beat you across the pool," he challenged, flexing his formerly broken arm.

"I don't know how to swim but I will try my best to learn fast," Leander laughed again.

"Don't know how to swim?" Seth exclaimed with surprise, suddenly dragged back to the knowledge that Leander was not totally human and that he didn't have the experiences a sixteen year old should have.

"I'm a great teacher," Seth bragged. "I'll have you swimming in no time. Then I'll beat the socks off you!"

"Do you wear socks in the pool? Don't remember that..." Leander mumbled, looking confused, as if he was trying to remember Seth wearing socks in the pool. He turned his head to hide his smile and chuckled under his breath knowing acting like that would frustrate Seth.

"No, I just meant I'd win a race against you… by a lot. Sheesh, don't take everything I say so literal," Seth complained.

"I'm joking! Geez, Seth how dumb do you think I am?" he feigned a hurt look for a moment before cracking up into gales of laughter.

"You ass!" Seth grumbled between his teeth, his anger lasted for only a second before he laughed along with his friend.

They raced, evenly matched, down the stairs toward the back door.

"Slow down you two," Aunt Marci fussed as they ran through the kitchen and out the door. She smiled; it was good to see them having a good time. They had been through so much lately. It was nice that the weather had held out for one last swim. The news reported a cold front would be arriving in their area in the wee hours of the morning and tomorrow would be a very cold day.

They slowed, properly exited the kitchen door and stood on the porch. Shrouded in the deep shadow of a nearby tree, Seth could make out the still shape of his newest ally, Peritrus. Only time would tell how well they would get along. When Bracken introduced him to Seth, he was not sure how to take the warrior's awkward self-conscious deference to him, respect for Bracken he could understand.

After talking to him for a while, he seemed a likeable enough guy for a large human-sized fairy. He was seriously muscular and an extremely handsome fairy warrior, complete with wings and plate armor. His armor was more the color of dull pewter instead of the bright burnished golden color he had seen on the Astrids that fought by their side at Zzyzx. Perhaps the dull color of his armor was a sign of the Fairy Queen's displeasure. He was also unarmed; Bracken had confiscated his sword for the time being.

Besides the Queen and Bracken and probably his sister, Seth held the means to bring forth the Astrid's human avatar state. Kendra's way of changing Astrids was to bestow a kiss on them. Seth did not have to perform that awkward ritual. He only had to recite a few cryptic words. Otherwise, Peritrus had to remain in his natural form a large golden owl. If anyone saw him, they would see only an owl. Even natural owls were quite good at hiding in the shadows during the daylight. Seth and Leander had drunk the milk that gave them the ability to see magical creatures so he saw a genderless human face surrounded by feathers peering back at them. Even in his winged, armored warrior state, normal humans would see Peritrus as just a guy in regular clothes.

Seth's attention was drawn back to the challenge at hand.

"Ready. Set. Go," he yelled, and he and Leander sprinted for the pool. Leander was the first to reach the water, his longer legs and fit muscles gave him the edge. He jumped in and Seth followed.

Seth taught him the basics, which Leander learned quickly. Seth easily beat him the first few laps then as Leander began to get closer to winning Seth would teach him a new swimming stroke. Leander quickly caught on to Seth's strategy of not letting him win a race but he did not care he was enjoying himself. His wish of swimming with his friend had finally come true. They spent the entire day playing in the pool, only taking a lunch break to eat an outrageously large meal at the patio table.

The afternoon passed quickly into evening, and as they finally climbed out of the pool he was pleasantly tired. They rested at the edge of the pool watching the fairies tend the garden. When the sun went below the tree line and the air suddenly cooled, they dashed back into the house to the smell of apple pies baking in the oven.


	3. Chapter 3

Moving On

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Taking a walk on possibly the last warm day for while, Kendra and Bracken spent half the day trying to figure out how and why Leander seemed so human.

"You reminded Leander that he wasn't completely human and that he will still have dragon traits even if he gives up his dragon form. He didn't give it up but he is still too human. Are you so sure the spell wasn't responsible?" Kendra asked.

Bracken shook his head uncertain, nothing about Leander added up as it should. He knew that Leander wasn't completely human; he had reverted to his dragon form once and also produced a dragon magic spell. So his statement should be true but he wondered if it were true.

"Nothing is absolute, you know that. Mother saw nothing harmful in the spell. That doesn't mean there weren't possible unknown side effects. No one knows how he becomes invisible; it is a trait unique to him. We made assumptions about the spell based on our knowledge of normal dragon characteristics. We have no idea how the spell might have reacted with his extraordinary physiology," Bracken conceded.

"Is there a way to measure his humanness?" Kendra asked.

"I don't think so," Bracken replied skeptically. He wondered how human Leander actually was. He shouldn't need Viola's milk to see magical creatures. He shouldn't need protection from dragonfear. He seemed to have only human strength and stamina. If he was a true dragon avatar he should have enough strength to kill or incapacitate the troll that attacked him. He should also be able to run for hours without tiring. None of which was true for Leander. What other disparities were there?

The fact that after one use his dragon magic hadn't returned was as disturbing as its sudden violent emergence.

The next morning Kendra thought she smelled glop, perhaps there was a draft bringing the smell up into the kitchen. As she wrinkled up her nose, she remembered Slaggo making a comment about being a great sniffer. Though she wondered how he could smell anything through the permeating stench of warmed over glop. She knew he had gotten a sniff of Navarog when the Sphinx released him from the dungeon. Even at that slight whiff, Slaggo had known that Navarog did not smell entirely human. She wanted to see if he could detect that Leander wasn't totally human.

That morning after breakfast Kendra asked Bracken about a little experiment she wanted to try.

"I want to show you a trick that Slaggo does," Kendra told Bracken as they walked from the kitchen.

"Who is Slaggo?" Bracken asked.

"He's the head goblin in the dungeon, sort of the warden's helper. He is also the chief glop cook and feeds the inmates that eat," Kendra informed him. Bracken shivered at the thought of glop.

Just as they reached the stairs, a drowsy Seth came tromping down, Leander seemingly as sleep deprived followed behind him. Kendra thought that Seth was beginning to rub off on Leander, and not in a good way. Kendra and Bracken turned following the sleepy duo. They sat back down at the table, chatting about trivial happenings, waiting until the two had eaten enough to wake up to offer the dungeon tour.

"Since it is very cold outside let's go for a little walk inside. Leander, you haven't seen the entire house yet," she said watching Leander scarf down his third plate of pancakes, this plateful smothered in cherry preserves.

"What are you going to show him," Seth asked curiously, working on his second plate of bacon and eggs.

"The dungeon," she smiled.

"Not interested," Seth moaned and rolled his eyes.

Leander looked up at her; curiosity raised his mouth into a grin and put a gleam in his eyes. He swallowed and wiped his mouth on a napkin before he spoke. She wanted to giggle that he took her good manner's lesson to heart.

"You have a dungeon? Here?" Leander asked, very interested.

"Yes, we do," Kendra said proudly. Even though she wasn't really proud of the dungeon, she wanted him to go. She wanted to put Slaggo to the test.

"I'll go with you, too," Bracken volunteered, ready to support Kendra. He knew the Fablehaven dungeon and it did not bother him now.

"It's dark, boring and stinky," Seth remarked in a monotone voice to accentuate his lack of interest.

"Where is it?" Leander asked brightly, showing his interest regardless of Seth's opinion.

"Right through there," Kendra answered pointing at an interior door in the kitchen.

"Really?" Leander was surprised that it was as simple as a door to the basement.

"Yeah, let's go for a short tour, we can't go very far without getting into the creepy part but you can see the quiet box and some of the cells," she offered. "After you've finished your breakfast, of course," she added.

"Cool," he said looking cautiously down the dark stairs. He cautiously went down the steep stairs first.

A few stairs down, Leander stood still; the ones in front of him had disappeared in the darkness. He turned back toward the only light, the dim light from above showing the stairway. He could see the outline of Bracken and Kendra standing on the stairs behind him.

"I can't see a thing down here," he complained, even the bright light from the room above made no dent in the darkness he had just turned from.

Bracken and Kendra could see perfectly fine, Kendra could see because she was never in the dark ever since she had become fairykind and Bracken could see because Kendra's fairy glow was so bright, in the dark it almost made him wince.

"Slaggo has a torch," she whispered as she passed him on the stairs. "Slaggo where are you?" she called out when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Slaggo rounded the corner. He held up his guttering torch lighting the entire area. He was carrying a bucket of fresh glop. The air immediately reeked with the stench of the swill the goblins fed to the inmates that required food. Kendra rushed forward to speak to him first.

"How is your sniffer today," she asked, half holding her breath.

"Perfect as usual," he replied with an unpleasant smirk. "Everything smells wonderful."

"Can you tell me which of us is not human?" she challenged him as Bracken and Leander approached.

"You are human with a slight hint of fairy magic, I know," he replied wanting to show off his prowess to her. He moved closer until he stood next to her, and took a deep breath.

Kendra held her breath as long as she could before resorting to breathing through her mouth.

"This boy is human. No magic about him," he indicated Leander. "But this one smells of strong pure fairy magic." He shuddered and moved away from Bracken, hiding behind Kendra.

Kendra and Bracken exchanged slightly shocked looks. Bracken was very confused at Slaggo's pronouncement that Leander was completely human. The spell had definitely done more to Leander than just give him a chance at another avatar.

"Very good, Slaggo, I see you haven't lost your talent and thanks for the light," Kendra said as she pulled a flashlight from her pocket. "I'm going to show them around, but we won't be long."

"I've got work to do," Slaggo grumbled feeling useless now that she pulled out her electric torch and he walked away the glop bucket sloshing at his side.

Just as they were heading up the stairs Seth appeared at the door.

"Come on up. We've got visitors at the gate," he announced excitedly.

"Visitors? Who?" Kendra asked.

"Donno, fairies say there are visitors at the gate. They can't enter so _we_ get to go find out who they are and what they want," he replied, feeling special. No one had ever waited at the gate for entrance before. This was the first time Seth had been around when Fablehaven had unannounced or unregistered visitors.

Two fashionably dressed young men were standing on the other side of the closed gate, hands in their pockets. They looked a little guilty when they saw the truck come into view. Seth grinned; they were probably shocked by the gate trying to open it themselves. Seth stopped his truck ten feet from the gate and opened his door.

"I think we should just watch, Seth. You go be the lead on this," Bracken said before Seth jumped from the driver's seat.

"Oh, okay," he shrugged as he hit the ground. He walked to the front of the truck studying the men. They were uneasily rocking from one foot to the other.

Bracken opened the passenger door and jumped out, followed by Kendra and Leander. He closed the door but the three stood together not moving forward to meet the strangers. His hand reached out automatically and almost magnetically finding Kendra's warm hand he threaded his fingers through hers. If the strangers were magic users nothing they could do would make it through the wardings on the sanctuary boundary or gate, still he felt better that Kendra was beside him.

"Hi. I'm Seth Sorenson, grandson of the Caretakers and these are my friends," Seth said as he walked forward, without naming his 'friends'. "Anyway… what can I do for you?" Seth knew their only reason for being here was because they knew Fablehaven was a sanctuary; otherwise they would have passed by the gate, unaware of its existence.

"We are Raxtus' brothers, well, half-brothers to be precise. I'm Sidue and he is Hiral. We understand that he disappeared here and has not been found," Sidue said easily, introducing himself and the other handsome young man standing on the other side.

"It's nice to finally meet Raxtus' brothers. Sorry it's under such unfortunate circumstances," Seth replied. "But how can we help you?"

My half-brothers? Leander thought, surprised and confused. What were they doing here?

"We haven't gotten many details about the disappearance and Celebrant, our father, hasn't told us anything either," Hiral interjected, imparting a strange mix of both awkwardness and confidence at the same time. If handsome well dressed dragon avatars could be nerds this guy was probably their leader.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but he has been declared dead," Seth replied sadly.

"You knew Raxtus very well didn't you?" Hiral spoke up. "Rumors spread that he spent much of his time here."

"Do you have any idea where his hoard was hidden?" Sidue added quickly. "The family would like to have some of his keepsakes. We would split it up between his family members."

Leander stood next to the truck speechless unable to believe what he was hearing. Dragons didn't split 'family' hoards. A lucky finder got whatever they found, searching was part of dragon history. He couldn't call them brothers or half-brothers even though they were Celebrant's sons, they were despicable. These creeps wanted his friends to tell them where his hoard was. As if he would even tell even his best friends. He knew other dragons didn't think much of him but how stupid did they think he was? Unbelievable.

Even when his father agreed to let him undergo the spell to erase his former avatar he hadn't felt close to his father. He was unconvinced by his father's confession to Leander of how much Raxtus' disappearance troubled him. Nonetheless, he was sure Celebrant had nothing to do with their inquiry. Wickedly, he imagined what their father would do to them if he heard them speaking to sanctuary personnel about dragon hoards in the first place.

"We have never talked to him about his hoard and he didn't share the information. We are having a memorial for him next week if you would like to come. I think your father will be here," Seth said taking charge of the conversation.

Both men turned pale at his words.

"No, thank you we will mourn on our own. You don't need to let Celebrant know we were asking about him. He didn't get along with Raxtus so he might be angry at us for being concerned," Sidue quickly replied, shaking his head.

"Thanks for your time," Hiral said as he grabbed his brothers arm and jerked him away from the gate. "I told you he wasn't that stupid." Bracken overheard him whisper to his brother.

It was finally time for Leander to leave. After three long weeks, he was strong and healthy. All hints of his drained strength from his inexperienced use of his newly acquired dragon magic were gone, along with any hints of his dragon magic returning. He was pretty sure he had burned himself out. The goblin's verdict that he was simply human and had no smell of magic had confirmed it at least in his mind.

Now that it was common Sanctuary knowledge that Raxtus, the fairy dragon, was dead, Leander no longer had a job at Fablehaven. Bracken had introduced Leander to the Caretakers of Fablehaven and the rest of Seth's and Kendra's family as a tracker whose job it was to look for Raxtus. Ruth Sorenson, co-caretaker of Fablehaven, had let Leander know he was welcome to stay, that he had a home there if he wanted it. Leander wanted to stay but not while Raxtus' dragon parents were there, also they were planning and holding the memorial for Raxtus which he didn't want to attend.

It was early morning in the entryway of the main house and the silence was palpable, the house was empty except for them. Seth, Kendra and Bracken stood looking at Leander and he kept his eyes on Seth afraid of what his face might express if he looked at Kendra. He wasn't in love with her as Bracken was but he felt that he liked her a little too much for Bracken's comfort and it showed in the way he looked at her. At least that is what Seth told him.

Seth had told him that he was giving too much away with his facial expressions. He was not accustomed to his new human emotions and that he needed to learn to control his outward appearance. As a result for the last few days of his convalescence he had sat looking in a mirror trying to feel his expressions, learning to put on a neutral expression or at least mask his true feelings. It was difficult work and his eyes never seemed to manage go along with the expression he was trying to emulate. If he was happy, they shone merrily through the sullen face he tried to mask it with. If he was sad, they were dreary even through the smile plastered on his face. He knew it would take a long time to master. Consequently, for now, he just looked at Seth.

Leander had said his goodbyes to the rest of the family at dinner last night. Most of the adults were normally gone by the time Seth and Leander came down for breakfast in the morning, carrying out their various duties around the sanctuary. Bracken had come to take Leander to his temporary accommodations. They all knew Leander would be back shortly, at least they hoped he would. They didn't know if he would like it on his own in the human world and neither did he.

"See you soon," Kendra said and hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, see you soon," Leander replied as he hugged her back, keeping his eyes on Seth and ignoring the sudden increase of his heartbeat from her touch. He knew it would happen but hadn't gotten used to his body's reaction to her affectionate hugs.

"Hurry back, the memorial is only a daylong event. You know you could have gone camping or something instead of leaving," Seth repeated. They had had this conversation last night in their room. Seth thought he would just say it again for Bracken and Kendra's benefit.

"I guess I just need to do this for now," he admitted. He knew he didn't really need to go but he wanted to see what living on his own would be like. He was curious plus he felt Ruth Sorenson wanted him to give his fictional 'father' a chance to be a father.

The father story was all make-believe but outside the sanctuary in this world he, a dragon in human form, was make-believe too. Acting, according to Bracken, was a skill set he had to master. How was he going to learn acting if he couldn't even control his facial reactions to his emotions? He would practice more in his new home.

Seth made the arrangement for the short term lease on the semi-furnished apartment over the internet. Two months paid for in advance, though Leander had no expectations of being there much longer than a week or two.

Seth, still grounded, couldn't accompany him so Bracken borrowed his truck to take Leander into town.

"You won't need magic milk out there. As a matter of fact it would be dangerous for you to have it," Bracken told him that morning. Consequently, as they walked to the truck to leave, Leander saw only bugs and birds fluttering around Bracken instead of fairies. The massive pile of dirt shifting slowly in the driveway must have been Hugo, the golem. Though Mendingo still looked like himself, a sticklike scarecrow with hooks for joints, though his movements appeared more like that of a wind chime than the conscious effort of a magical construct.

Outside the house, the continued silence was awkward. Leander sat his suitcase on the ground and hugged Seth. He could handle his effortless affection for Seth and he had know Bracken most of his life but his friendly feelings for Kendra was a different situation, all mixed up within his new human body. Kendra crowded in for a group hug wrapping her arms around him from behind causing Leander to catch his breath. But they all laughed at his anxious expression knowing he hadn't experienced a familial group hug before, relieving his unease.

Seth tossed Leander's suitcase into the bed of the truck. Bracken and Leander drove away, Seth and Kendra waving as they disappeared around the bend in the long driveway.

Bracken and Leander had a little trouble obtaining the keys to the apartment but finally convinced the manager to allow Leander to take the keys in his father's stead.

Part of the sanctuary system's capability was obtaining legal documents for the few avatars and others who worked within the system so they would be able to work legitimately while in the human world. Even to the sanctuary system, Leander was an unknown tracker but with Bracken's recommendation, the required documents arrived at Fablehaven shortly before he left. Leander's photo ID and birth certificate convinced the manager to give him the keys.

Leaving his suitcase in the apartment, they went shopping for groceries. Seth had given Leander a couple hundred dollars for expenses. Bracken helped him pick out easy to prepare food. Leander hadn't been picky about the food he ate but he had no idea how to cook. Seth had been teaching him how to warm food in the microwave so he wasn't completely ignorant.

Returning with a dozen loaded grocery bags Leander thought he bought enough food to last the week. Little did he know how much he actually ate every day.


	4. Chapter 4

Visiting a Friend

_Knock knock._

Leander looked at the door distrustfully. He didn't want to answer it. The last time he answered the door someone tried to sell him something he didn't need. The local news was currently showing a report about a brutal home invasion and they hadn't caught the culprits yet. So feeling a bit paranoid, he decided to ignore the knocker's request for his response and pretended he wasn't home.

"Leander, it's me, Seth," a voice said through the door. Leander was stunned for a moment before he scrambled to his feet.

Seth stood at the door wondering if his friend was home or if he was out partying with new friends, it was in the middle of the afternoon.

"Oh, come in," Leander's surprised voice replied. The deadbolt turned and the door opened.

Leander stood at the door, barefooted and wearing only shorts, holding the TV remote. It was a warm afternoon and his skin gleamed with sweat. Warm air wafted out of the apartment, it was cooler outside than it was in the apartment. Cool air flowed over him and his eyes fluttered with the pleasant sensation.

_Oh, that feels good,_ he thought.

Leander's slim muscular body looked as if he had just finished a heavy workout at the gym. His muscles were so well defined and he smelled a little ripe. _Damn, he looks ripped though_, Seth thought ignoring Leander's smell. _For a body like that I'd give my right... Never mind, it wouldn't happen,_ he berated himself, _no use wishing_. Seth entered the dark apartment.

"What cha doing?" Seth asked looking around at the sparely furnished room.

A sofa and coffee table sat in front of a older model large screen TV which was the main focus of the room. There was no table in the tiny dining room and the only other furniture was a single bar-stool pulled up to the counter by the similarly tiny kitchen. The curtains were drawn even though it was bright outside the apartment was dark. There were no lamps in the room and the only light was a single overhead that was currently off. The room's only illuminated was the TV screen and the breaking news report it transmitted.

_Feels like a cave in here_, Seth thought, _all Leander needs is some of his dragon hoard littering the ground. _

"Nothing. I'm watching TV at the moment," Leander replied and shrugged. His interpretation of nothing was watching TV and eating and it was getting close to dinner time.

He was excited to see Seth. He muted the TV sound but didn't turn it off. The room flashed with the changing colors of the TV program.

"It's great to see you. Though I thought you were still grounded!" Leander said closing the door behind Seth.

"I got out on good behavior for the afternoon," he replied and asked, "what have you been up to?"

"Sitting around the apartment most of the day. I can't go out during school hours. I got caught at the mall the other day by a policeman. He asked me how old I was. I didn't think about why he was asking but when I told him I was 16 he wanted to know what school I went to. I told him I was new in town and didn't go to school; he left me alone. Later he and another policeman asked me for my identification. I wouldn't give it to them so they cornered me and said I needed to go to school. They wanted my parents name and where I lived. The whole experience was frightening. I distracted them by pointing down the mall toward non-existent parents and took off running. I turned invisible as soon as I could and got out of there. I hope there weren't any of those hidden cameras around. So I have to stay indoors until school is over or go out invisible and that feels too much like becoming Raxtus again."

"Sorry," Seth sympathized, "that sucks."

"It's OK, I stay in and watch TV. It's kind of like sitting around with Newel and Doren without all the leering references. I also practice my acting, working on my facial expressions.

"But I stay in for another reason too. Girls are always getting too close to me. It's bad enough that they smile at me and giggle but some of them actually come up and grab my arm wanting to feel my muscles," Leander whispered embarrassed.

"Oh yeah, that's a real problem," Seth said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Seth didn't mean to be sarcastic but having girls walk up and touch you wasn't necessarily a big problem, at least in his mind. A handsome boy, built like Leander was, Seth would have been surprised if girls or even grown women hadn't accosted him. He knew why it would bother Leander though. His newly acquired teenage body didn't automatically come equipped with sixteen years of personal experiences dealing with the opposite sex. He still didn't have control of his hormone driven avatar. It was bad enough going through puberty with those experiences, without them, it had to be pure torture.

"I didn't know they would do that. I can't control my reactions and it has been very embarrassing. I've had to run off and hide to turn invisible just to get away from them," Leander continued shuddering, remembering one particularly forward girl. She not only laid both her hands on his chest, she ran her hands down to his stomach and oohed over his tight abs. Then she rubbed up against him. Although he was not attracted to her, his body had some unsettling involuntary reactions to her forwardness. He remembered blushing and hurried to get away from her. He heard her and her friends laugh at him as he left.

Seth stood there chuckling and shaking his head at his inexperienced friend.

"How was the memorial?" Leander asked, changing the subject. He was dying to know. He hadn't wanted to be there for it but he wanted to hear about it.

"It was OK," Seth shrugged. "Kendra cried, of course. Your mom wasn't happy about it. She thought it was premature to declare Raxtus dead since all we had was one scale and the story from some narcoblix we still haven't been able to locate. Your dad didn't call for Axezeles' mourning until they found her spike and heart scale. But we went ahead with it anyway. Everyone told their favorite Raxtus story, at least the ones we could tell."

"Oh," Leander mumbled. Now he remembered why he hadn't wanted to go to the event, _they_ were there.

"Shiara was there too," Seth said reluctantly watching for his reaction.

"She was, huh. She didn't cry did she?" Leander asked looking at his friend's face for both his answer and reaction. Shiara was his 'foster mother', the tiny blue haired fairy who hid his egg and saved him from being devoured by a cockatrice. They had shared a lot together over the span of several hundred years. He was human now, just human and nothing else. He couldn't share his secret with her without every fairy knowing and that thought was intolerable.

"Not that I could tell, but she told the cutest story of your first attempt at flying," Seth said with a big grin. "You must have been a darling little dragon," he added teasingly, Seth's juvenile style of sarcasm dripping from each word.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Leander rolled his eyes, but he was happy, even with Seth teasing him, it was much better than the loneliness he had been feeling.

"Warren told about the time you made his hair grow instead of healing his knife wound," Seth laughed.

"Hmm, I don't remember that," he shrugged, "must be a Raxtus only memory."

Seth fidgeted for a moment because he was on a schedule and had to get to the store, so he needed to ask the question he had come to ask.

"You agreed to be my partner. You still interested?" Seth asked, changing the subject again.

"Sure! What makes you think I changed my mind?" Leander asked, concerned that Seth would even consider he would change his mind.

"Well, you're out in the world now. Things change when people get exposed to new things," Seth commented.

"I've been out here for a week and it hasn't been all that great. I don't know anyone and people I do meet want to know things about me like where I go to school and where I came from. I don't go out much, so I'm lonely for my friends.

"Plus I still need money, Seth. I have to pay you back for this apartment and all of the other things you have bought for me.

"We need to plan a way to get into Wyrmroost and get out with some of my treasure. Do you think they would let you go on a tracking job with me? We could let your parents think it's just a tracker job, not a treasure hunt. Like a job involving some ghost problem that you could help me with. If I come back to stay at Fablehaven do you think they would go easier on you and let you go?"

"Well, getting to your hoard would be a quite a treasure hunt but we don't need to let them know," Seth replied encouragingly. "With a good ghost story I think they might let me help."

"If you can't go at least I can pay you to help me plan it. You can help me with research or something. I want to go home with you Seth, I don't like it out here by myself," Leander admitted, enjoying Seth company. He had been very lonely.

"I'll talk to them tonight about you coming back, Seth said then paused."No, wait; come home with me for dinner! That will be better. They probably wouldn't turn you down in person as far as the tracking job goes. Besides, they wouldn't mind saying no to me especially if you're not there.

"I know they want you back at Fablehaven. Grandma Ruth has been worried about you ever since you left. She even let me out to go shopping today so I could check on you," Seth told him. He had been manipulating her anxiety just a bit. He was hoping she would let him go visit so he could see Leander on his own and find out how he was doing.

"Dinner sounds great," Leander said and perked up. "I haven't had anything as good as your grandmother's cooking all the time I've been here." In two days, he had eaten the week's worth of food he and Bracken had bought. He had gone back to the store for more but his second purchase was pretty much gone too, along with most of the cash Seth had given him.

"The reason they let me leave is to go to the store to get some things for Grandma Ruth and Mom, you know. So … when I'm through, I'll come back and pick you up. While I'm gone, pack up some clothes so you can spend the night," Seth suggested, with a sly grin. "I don't think they will want me to take you home so late."

Leander looked at Seth's sneaky grin and narrowed eyes. Although Seth didn't need to be cryptic since they were alone, he was being just that. So I'm supposed to read between the lines, huh Seth?

Seth opened the apartment door. "See ya in a few," he said happily, as he walked out.

Leander closed and locked the door behind Seth and went to his bedroom. It was even sparser than the living room and even darker. The only furniture was a twin bed and it looked very lonely in the center of the room. His suitcase sat open on the floor; he had been living out of it ever since he had moved in. His dirty clothes sat in a pile in the corner of the room; he hadn't gotten around to doing laundry yet.

He flipped on the overhead light. The stark room looked even more pathetic in the light. He took the pillowcase off the pillow, jammed his dirty clothes into it and striped off his shorts adding them too. He might as well take advantage of the washing machine and Ruth Sorenson's generosity. Besides, if he inferred the correct meaning of Seth's sneaky grin he might not be returning to this uncomfortable place. He picked up the suitcase and sat it with the filled pillowcase on his bed.

He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stood under the cold flow not waiting on the water to warm up, rinsing off the sweat and smell of the day. The cold water left him with goose bumps everywhere but he ignored them as he shampooed his hair and scrubbed his body quickly. He didn't want to offend Ruth, Marla or Kendra with his physical neglect.

He toweled off and used his toothbrush and deodorant. Then he gathered up his shampoo, toothpaste and other bathroom miscellany and dropped them into the small traveling bag sitting on the edge of the sink.

He looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time in many days, he looked almost happy. It was harder than it had first appeared, living by himself. Being a lone dragon was easy, well not exactly easy but being a lone teenage boy was so much more difficult, humans needed social contact and here he had none.

_I sure didn't do well living on my own_, he thought. _Hiding…always hiding. I can't do this on my own I know that now. I might have done alright if Seth had been with me... or Kendra._

He shook his head noticing his goofy grin in the mirror as he thought of her. _Nope, I've got to stop thinking about her like that and find someone else, someone for me. Control your expressions you have been practicing. You have to learn to act better than that or you will screw up_.

He picked up the traveling bag from the sink, and with one last look in the mirror, he saw his happy face, smiling with both his mouth and eyes. _That's more like it, _he thought nodding his head.

He went into the bedroom, from the suitcase he pulled out a clean t-shirt and jeans. He slipped into his clothes and pulled on his shoes. He shoved the sheets from the bed and his hiking boots in with the dirty clothes. He settled the traveling bag into his suitcase and closed it up. He walked into the living room carrying all of his human possessions. Setting them down next to the front door, he looked around the room. What else? Towels? ... No, he didn't care about the two he had purchased, currently hanging on the shower curtain rod, damp.

He went to the kitchen and picked up a few coins, his ID and keys from the counter and dropped them into his pocket. What little cash he had left he slipped into his back pocket. He opened the refrigerator, knowing there was not much there, he had eaten almost all of it. He would have had to go shopping tonight it Seth hadn't showed up. Half a bottle of orange juice and a few slices of bread still left in the wrapper sat on the shelf. In the refrigerator door, a couple of eggs sat forlornly in the egg holder at opposite sides from each other. He wondered how he had missed those at breakfast that morning.

He drank the icy tart juice it felt good going down. The room was warm and he was close to breaking out in a sweat again. The cool juice slowed that reaction down for the moment. Reluctantly putting the rest of the food in the trashcan, he pulled out the plastic liner bag and walked out the door to throw it in the dumpster.

It was much cooler outside than in the apartment and Leander took a deep breath. He felt comfortable in his clothes now. Leander could almost smell the cool forest until he walked across the hot blacktop parking lot to the dumpster. He felt excitement growing inside him; he couldn't wait to get back to Fablehaven.

Seth ran into the store with his short grocery list. He didn't have a lot to get. Grandma Ruth just gave him an excuse to go see Leander but he had to come back with her items. As he headed to the back of the store, he felt a supernatural presence, something dark. It was a presence that didn't belong in this part of his world. This was something that should have been in Fablehaven or some other sanctuary. He stopped and looked around trying to sense where it was. His attention focused on a young man, just a few years old than he, looking dazed by the dairy refrigerator.

The man was holding the door open and the cold air was flowing over him. He had on a small backpack. He was just a man, if he hadn't been Seth would have seen through his disguise, but Seth also sensed that there was something dark and magical in his pack that should not be there.

"Sir, are you sick? You don't look good. May I help you?" Seth approached him cautiously. The feeling of seriously dark magic concerned him. Getting closer he realized that the man was young probably only a few years older than he.

"No, I'm fine," said the young man, seeming to snap out of his daze. He walked off letting the refrigerator door fall shut behind him. The sense of darkness faded as he moved away but it left a foul taint in the air.

_This is none of my business. I will tell grandpa when I get home,_ Seth thought.

Seth picked up the rest of the items on his list and headed for the cashier still feeling the darkness on the edge of his senses. The man had not left the store. Seth paid for his groceries and left. Immediately the eerie feeling was gone, the man and his pack contaminated with black magic stayed in the store. Seth relaxed as he got into his truck, started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

_Knock knock_. Seth nervously knocked on Leander's door again. This time the door opened immediately. Leander stood there dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Ready?" Seth asked, knowing that he would be.

"Yes," Leander replied but turned to face the TV. "Let me turn this thing off." He walked back to the sofa, picked up the remote and clicked off the TV; the news program went silent and dark. The room went almost totally black.

Seth flipped on the ceiling light and walked into the room closing the door behind him. He saw the suitcase and stuffed pillowcase sitting next to the door.

"Planning a long visit?" he asked jovially, seeing that Leander had caught his hint. Their partnership might work out well if they could deduce the meaning of each other's cryptic words.

"Thought I'd take advantage of your grandmother's love of cleaning dirty clothes and get some laundry done while I'm visiting," he replied happily, knowing Seth was impressed that he had caught on to his deceptively subtle hint. He took one last look around the room. "Guess I should close the window," he admitted. He walked over and pushed aside the drapes. He pulled the window shut and latched the lock.

Suddenly, Seth felt a prickling feeling at the edge of his senses. Undeniably, it was the feel of the recent darkness he had encountered.

"No, he couldn't have followed me here. Why would he?" Seth mumbled nervously.

"What did you say?" Leander asked, not following Seth mumbled words.

"There was a weird guy in the grocery store and he has a magic item in his backpack. It is a really bad dark magic thing," Seth told him.

Seth stood still for a moment. He held up his hand to stop Leander from asking any questions while he concentrated. He felt the darkness as it moved toward them, and then it moved away. It didn't move too far away it just wasn't coming right at him anymore. Maybe it was going to another apartment Seth thought and relaxed.

"Phew! I thought that guy was coming after me but it seems he just came to the apartments or at least close by," Seth breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are we going to do?" Leander asked, concerned. "If it is a bad thing shouldn't you do something?"

"I don't know. It's dark magic not just a shadow. I don't think I'm really equipped to take care of dark magic," Seth admitted. "I was going to tell grandpa and let him notify someone."

"Well if the guy is traveling around we might lose where he and his dark item are going. Shouldn't we contact someone to come now," Leander quipped.

"Sounds like a great idea but you don't have a phone and neither do I," Seth gestured furtively.

Leander looked up at the ceiling and contemplated the situation. Suddenly he remembered his emergency contact instructions. "Can't Bracken negate dark magic?" Leander asked He put his hands in his pockets looking cheerfully at Seth.

"Yah, Some of it. Why?" Seth asked, scrunching up his face, irritated. Getting hold of Bracken was one of the hardest things to do, he had listened to Kendra complain enough times. Running next door and borrowing their phone was an option though.

"I have this!" Leander said with a smile and pulled a coin from his pocket.

"One of Bracken's telepathic coins? When did he give you that?" Seth said excited. He remembered the coin Bracken had given him, long ago.

"He gave it to me the day he dropped me off here. He told me if I had an emergency or needed him, I was to use this to contact him. This isn't an emergency yet but if that thing is as bad as you say, it might get to be an emergency," Leander stated, trying to offer assistance.

"I don't know. This has me confused. Why would someone be traveling around with a thing like that with him? Why was he in a grocery store?" Seth muttered, thinking out loud. He didn't want to drag Bracken into something that wasn't his concern. This was Sanctuary related, not fairy realm stuff.

"Maybe he was transporting it and decided to buy food on the way home?" Leander guessed.

"Or maybe he just stole it and didn't know what he had," Seth conjectured, intuitively. "Wait! That home invasion – turn the TV back on."

Leander picked up the remote and pushed the power button. The breaking news story was still playing. The well groomed news reporter stood microphone in hand, in front of a house. In the background, the police activity in and around of the house was frantic.

"_interior of the house was demolished as if the robbers were looking for something hidden in the walls. They even dug up the basement floor in several places. This amount of destruction took quite a while._

"_The family who occupied the home was killed; their names have not been released. Their bodies were found in various parts of the house, with one exception. The oldest son is missing. The coroner's investigator says the bodies have been in the house for several days..."_

"Look! See who that is!" Seth exclaimed.

"_the neighbors heard the banging noises and thought they were remodeling..."_

"Who?" Leander asked and looked closer at the TV screen.

"_but this morning a neighbor called the police when the front door was left wide open. They could..."_

"There!" Seth rushed up to the screen and pressed his finger on the moving figure. "That's Trask."

"_see the damage and a body on the floor."_

Trask was one of the leaders of the Knights of the Dawn.

"Shit, this is bad if he is there," Seth cursed. "I'll have to keep in contact with this evil – whatever it is, follow it if I have to. Call Bracken and let him know we are here and we need help."

Leander muted the TV and held the coin tight in his hand and thought at Bracken_. _

_'Bracken, I need you.'_

_'I'm here, are you in danger?'_

_'Not immediate danger but Seth has come across something he can't handle. We need help'_

_'What kind of help?'_

_'It seems some dark magic has been released. He can sense it very close to my apartment. We saw Trask on a news program checking out a gruesome home invasion. He recognized the boy's photo as a boy he sensed carrying a backpack with a malevolent aura. We figured it was something bad so we don't want to lose track of it. We will follow it wherever it moves. Please send someone who can deal with dark magic to help us, _

_'I am in Fablehaven now. You know that it will take at least an hour to get to you from here.'_

_'Yes.'_

_'They are checking to see if someone else is closer, maybe getting in touch with Trask. They know about the event, this is a dangerous person and item so be careful. Is Peritrus with Seth?'_

_'I don't know.'_

_'Check on him, he may be able to help too. We will be there soon, keep me informed if you have to leave your apartment.'_

_'Yes, I will.'_

"They are sending someone right now. I wonder if Peritrus is around," Leander asked aloud, slipping the coin into his pocket.

"Oh, I forgot about him," Seth admitted.

"Peritrus?" Seth closed his eyes and thought.

_"Yes, I am here,"__ Peritrus' mental reply was immediate. _

"We might be in danger. Keep a look out. I am sending for help but they will not get here for an hour," Seth told him.

_"I understand. I am coming closer to where you are," __he replied._

"Peritrus is coming to watch over us," Seth told Leander.

Leander's stomach began to grumble.

"There is nothing here to eat," he mumbled forlornly thinking of the two eggs and bread he had just thrown away. At least he could have had an egg sandwich.

"And we won't make it back to Fablehaven anytime soon," Seth finished the thought. "I'll go get the groceries I bought maybe we can make something up." He ran out the door, the truck keys in his hand.

Seth ran to the parking lot just in time to see a huge golden owl with a human face perch in a nearby tree. He waved at the tree as he unlocked the truck and pulled the grocery bags from the front seat. Moving around outside, Seth got a better sense of the direction the evil presence had gone, one building over and up a floor or maybe two. The dark magic was still unmoved from its previous rest. Perhaps Leander could do some invisible reconnaissance and check out the building it went into.

Leander's stomach finally quit complaining after eating almost everything Seth brought into the house. The empty cans, boxes and wrappers Leander tossed back into the grocery bag and took it out to the dumpster. He noticed the dark shape of a large brown owl in the tree watching him as he walked past. Somehow, it made him feel at ease knowing that the Astrid was close by. At least Seth was safe.


	5. Chapter 5

_Waiting for Backup_

_Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended._

"I saw what could only be Peritrus; it was reassuring to see him out there. When help comes you should be outside too," Leander declared as he walked in the front door. "It would be best if they didn't you were here visiting someone. I'll disappear for now. I can always show up, or if you need I can stealthily go somewhere."

"How will you know if I want you or where to go if I need that?"

"Just whisper, I will be right next to you until you say otherwise," Leander grinned slyly.

"Oh, okay." Seth mulled the thought over. He was probably right; having a covert and invisible partner would be an advantage. The Knights knew nothing about Leander, the tracker, and there was no reason to introduce them to him. Last thing they wanted was to answer questions; it could get messy quickly.

"They should be here soon so I'll just be going," Leander quipped as he disappeared.

He didn't just disappear this time he faded away like a fog dissipating. Seth flinched slightly; it was so strange to see his friend evaporate into nothingness.

"Say something," Seth whispered, knowing Leander would hear him.

"Why?"

Seth softly answered the omnidirectional voice. "It sounds so cool. I can't tell where it's coming from. It's eerie like you're a ghost or something."

Yeah right, something supernatural came to mind, but more like the voice of an angel. This time Seth recognized that Leander's beautiful 'invisible' voice had a seriously significant potency to it. It was strangely compelling. Just as he had immediately answered Leander's simple and reasonable question, Seth had an uneasy feeling that he couldn't refuse any request made by that voice. Seth didn't want to know what would happen if he were asked to do something dangerous. Maybe he needed to ask Bracken about his strange impression.

Leander laughed out loud and Seth's head twisted around listening to the disembodied laughter until he too laughed. Seth shrugged off his uneasiness. Leander's friendly voice was joyful. How could it be otherwise?

"Okay, I'm out of here," Seth said as he plucked the bag of flour from the kitchen counter. It was the only grocery item that Leander hadn't consumed. He opened the door and waited a moment before exiting, allowing time for Leander to precede him.

The Astrid reacted quickly with anxious trepidation when Leander's presence suddenly disappeared. The boy had disappeared from the area, totally and instantly. Peritrus was at a loss to know how. He had excellent perception but could no longer sense the young man. There were no portals nearby and he would have recognized if an unusual portal had opened, it was one of an Astrid's inbred abilities. Despite his instructions not to contact Seth unless called, he initiated an immediate mental link when he saw Seth leave the apartment.

'Seth, where has Leander gone?' Peritrus anxiously called out to Seth.

'He's fine. You are supposed to protect me not Leander,' Seth replied knowing full well that Leander was safer than either of them.

Seth had tried to name Leander's new kind of invisibility. It was so much more than just being invisible but couldn't come up with anything except that perhaps he phased out, like on Star Trek when no one could see or hear the affected crewmen. Maybe he was no longer in this dimension or just halfway here because he could still communicate effectively. It made his head hurt every time he tried to think about it, especially when an Astrid or even Bracken, for that matter, couldn't sense his presence.

'But he's missing, isn't he your friend?' Peritrus asked curiously. 'I can help more effectively if you order me to change into human form,' he said urgently trying to persuade Seth.

'Yes, but you have no obligation to him. Besides, he is doing OK on his own right now. The others will be here momentarily,' Seth answered mentally, concentrating on the position of the dark essence. 'I'm helping him,' he lied not wanting the Astrid to ask any more questions about Leander.

'As you wish Seth, I am here to watch your back.' Peritrus answered politely. Perhaps Seth had used his remarkable shadow skills somehow protectively shielding the boy from the nearby demon. Shadow Charmers were a strange and uniquely powerful group; though usually evil, Peritrus knew Seth wasn't. He also knew Seth was in a league all his own.

"Thank you." Seth sighed aloud.

Peritrus landed in the high branches of the tallest tree. He was on look out for the human's known as the Knights of Dawn. It was a bitter pill to swallow that during the Astrid's exile, the humans took the name and role of his once proud brothers. Now only two rebels remained. The rest, those who survived the demon war, were now in the Fairy Queen's good graces, back on duty protecting the royal family and assisting the reconstruction of the new Fairy Realm. Peritrus held out hope that, eventually, he too would rejoin their ranks. He was lost in thought as he caught the first glimpse of a magically shrouded van coming down the street.

"They are almost here," Peritrus' voice rang in Seth's head.

Seth stood in the parking lot casually leaning against the back of his truck as a black van entered the driveway. Trask was in the driver's seat and an unfamiliar man sat in the passenger seat. Seth waved but waited by his own vehicle.

Trask parked nearby. He, his passenger and three additional men exited the van. At first glance, they appeared to be dressed casually. Seth, though, could see through the deception and recognized both conventional and magical weapons and armor.

"Seth," Trask said as he nodded and walked toward him. "What have you come up with now? Bracken said you found something dangerous you couldn't handle. He was more than a little cryptic," he asked jovially.

"I don't know why, I was plain enough," Seth explained soberly. "I felt a dark presence at the grocery store and followed it here. Demons I get, but dark magic I know nothing about. I knew you were involved and I didn't want him to run off so I let Bracken know I needed the Knights help."

"How did you know we were involved?" Trask asked, guardedly.

"I saw the 'home invasion' newscast earlier and saw your unmistakable face on camera. I put two and two together and came up with an OMG moment," Seth smiled and shrugged wryly. "They're up there." He pointed toward the second floor of a neighboring apartment building he had been keeping an eye on.

"They?" Trask queried as he and the others gazed in the direction Seth was pointing.

"The kid whose picture was plastered all over that newscast and whatever he's carrying in his backpack. I was at the grocery store and felt a dark presence and saw the kid holding a freezer door open. Just standing there like a zombie. I asked him if he needed any help. He said no and walked away. I got the feeling there was a really nasty item or critter in that backpack," Seth answered.

"Nasty is an apt term for what got a hold of him," Trask nodded. The men around him also nodded gravely. "But you were a fool to get that close," he snapped.

Seth shrugged blithely. Trask knew but not many others knew of his Shadow Charmer status. He was pretty sure he would be unaffected by a minor demon, but with the full extent of his Shadow Master skills still untried, he was pleased more experienced people were around to lead the way. He was very willing to use his skills as backup in this situation but not all on his own. He was getting more cautious with age and experience which made him sigh grumpily for it was a definite sign of growing up.

Still they had a job to do and his help would be required. He pulled Trask aside.

"Uh, may I suggest a little help from me? The grocery store fairly emptied with the fear and dread that backpack was pumping out. This is probably why no one called with tips about the kid's whereabouts. They wouldn't get close enough to tell it was him. I'm offering my assistance to block it from you."

Trask nodded and grinned. "We will accept your assistance." Trask walked back to his men and told them a little about Seth's ability to block fear, but kept his status as a Shadow Charmer secret.


	6. Chapter 6

Demon in a Backpack

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

"I'm following you." Seth heard Leander's soft whisper in his ear. Though Seth couldn't feel his grip, he knew Leander was more than just touching his bare skin. Seth tried to imagine what could possibly happen if Leander lost his hold. First fear would overcome him - what then? He might black out, fall and then someone would trip over an invisible object, which would be hard to explain, or he might black out and become visible leading to other consequences. Leander had an old dragon soul so maybe he was smart enough to know what he was doing. Maybe. Still Seth was frustrated that he couldn't say a word to him because Trask was too close.

Trask and another of the team, a man named Frasier, held Seth's bare forearms as three abreast, they made their way up the stairs. The others waited below. In their free hands, Trask held a wicked looking sword and Frasier carried an ornately carved staff. Seth could feel a hint of the power contained within the staff.

"Just up ahead," Seth whispered. "You definitely don't want to lose your grip," he muttered more for Leander than the other two. He could feel the emanations growing stronger and knew they were getting very close. They walked silently down hallway until he abruptly stopped in front of an ordinary apartment door and nodded. Without letting go of his hold on Seth, Frasier held the staff up in front of the door. Seth was glad Trask had this guy with them; it would be harder to explain how Seth could do the same thing without the use of a staff. He watched as Frasier's hand twitched against the wood then heard the lock clicked and the door silently moved on its hinges until it was fully open.

The first thing they noticed was the overwhelming smell of blood. Daylight then flooded the darkened room. With the door fully opened, Seth's immediate impression was 'it's a demon not black magic'.

The sight inside was horrifying. Leander gagged as his eyes took in the blood splatter covering a large area of the floor; bloody ripped remains of the boy's clothes, and the shredded backpack open at the boy's feet. Blood dripping from his wounds, the almost naked young man stood unmoving, trancelike in the middle of the room. Leander gagged again at the sickening vision of something horrendous moving under the skin of the youth's abdomen. It writhed sinuously like a snake except it was too large. Just then the skin stretched too far, it popped and ripped spattering blood everywhere. It had obviously made it way up the boy's leg as raw bloody muscle shown through his ripped flesh in several places. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

Incompatible, to say the least, the demon still attempted to inhabit the young man.

The demon seemed unaware of their intrusion as the group entered the apartment. Frasier with raised staff cast the containment spell. The spell got the demon's attention because it failed. It burst through the boy's skin in an attempt to flee.

Simultaneously, Seth muttered a Shadow Master command and Leander muttered a wishful plea for the thing to stop. All movement ceased, the grotesque gory blob with too many short stumpy limbs quivered on the floor where it fell.

No longer in the demon's control the boy's face contorted into the semblance of a silent scream before any actual sound came from him. His terror and pain filled screams tore at Leander's heart.

"I think being unconscious would be better for him at this point," Seth declared. Trask nodded and pulled a potion vial from his belt pouch.

"I wish I could take away your pain," Leander muttered too softly for even Seth to hear.

"Sleep now," Trask said softly as he raised the vial to the boy's face. He held the vial so Frasier couldn't see that he hadn't taken the lid off for it was only to conceal that it was actually Seth's actions that had the boy instantly unconscious.

The boy collapsed unceremoniously against Trask who managed, with one hand, to replace the potion vial and lower the boy to the floor while maintaining a grip on Seth's arm with the other.

They moved as a group toward the misshapen bloody lump on the floor. Frasier pulled an ornate casket from his own backpack. Using gloves similar to the ones Seth had used when handling magic items in the dragon's hoard, Frasier placed the small demon into the container. As the cover closed, Seth felt the demon's aura disappear.

"You can let go of me now there is nothing here to cause fear," Seth announced.

"I'm going downstairs," Leander whispered breathlessly, trying his best to keep what he had just eaten in his stomach. He dashed out the door as the other three men approached the apartment. When he reached the ground, he swallowed the acid in his throat, took a few deep breaths and felt calmer. He wondered how Seth managed so well with such an awful scene, somehow nothing seemed to bother him. Maybe he should ask him about it later.

Another car drove up, Bracken, Seth's father and grandfather stepped out. Leander thought it would be a good way to enter the situation with less questions asked. He slipped behind a tall hedge and became visible. Calling out to Bracken Leander stepped out into the afternoon sunlight.

"Hi, did everything go all right?" Bracken asked.

"I believe so. Seth is upstairs with Trask now. Why don't we go up and see for ourselves," Leander said as he pointed the way. Bracken led as Leander ushered Stan and Seth's father up the stairs.

When they arrived one of the three that came in last was bandaging the young man's wounds, he even had an IV started. They had moved him to a sofa and covered him with blankets, he looked a little better than before.

"Who is this? How did all this happen?" Stan asked, shocked at both the boy's appearance and the blood spattered room.

"His name is Aaron Richardson. We knew of his father who was a foolish dabbler in magic; though we were unaware that he somehow became guardian of this demon. We don't know how long the demon was confined or in the man's custody. There are very few who could question a demon, though it probably wouldn't know the answers anyway."

Trask struggled to keep his head from turning toward Seth. He was interested to see if he would react to his statement. Still he didn't want any of his men to get curious about Seth's skills by his inadvertent act of curiosity. He kept his eyes on the boy and the first aid he was receiving.

"Though the container should have kept the demon inactive," Trask continued. "Aaron must have an affinity for the shadow realm, enough to rouse the demon and link with him. The results are as you saw on the TV. While the restricted demon couldn't completely control the boy, he went insane with desire to find the demon. This frenzy led to the awful slaughter of his family and the senseless destruction of the house looking for the confinement vessel." Trask motioned at the darkened pewter-like metal casket sitting in the ravaged backpack.

"Should he be waking up soon?" the EMT named John asked Trask with concern. He was unaware that it was Seth who rendered him unconscious.

"I think so," Trask answered. "The potion should wear off shortly."

Seth took it as a cue to wake Aaron. Gently he entered Aaron's mind finding the dark compulsion the demon created and banished it. With his wounds bandaged and painkiller administered, Seth lifted the veil from the young man's thoughts and allowed him to become conscious.

Aaron roused looking around him, seeing all unfamiliar faces though he seemed to recognize Seth. He focused on him, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"What am I doing here?" he asked Seth, his face desperate and frightened. He grimaced at the pain as he tried to sit up and looked down at himself. He saw the ripped and bloodied clothes, fresh bandages then the shredded backpack on the floor came into his sight. Suddenly he gasped and started to sob uncontrollably. "Mom - dad," he cried. "Oh my God what did I do?"

The revived young man wailed and cried as the memories of what the demon made him do to his family hit him full force. Aaron Richardson grieved over their deaths, especially lamenting the deaths of his younger siblings. Verbally laying all blame on himself due to his arrogance and gullibility. Sobbing and calling their names, Ben, Cary and Darren, Aaron began to pull at his hair and looked around frantically. He gazed out the door and dashed forward ready to launch himself over the balcony. Leander tackled him long before he reached the door and held him down. Once subdued, he curled into a fetal position and sobbed, fitfully pulling his hair and slapping his own face. Leander held his hands still but the boy struggled attempting to do himself damage.

As Aaron's grief seemed to become too consuming Seth again entered his mind and clouded the horrific memory of his own involvement, leaving only simple grief over the death of his family. He still sobbed with grief but ceased hurting himself. He would recover but would need professional care.

Seth walked out the door with his father and grandfather following.

"Dad is there anything we can do for him?" Seth asked distressed at level of grief that left Aaron sobbing.

"I think you have done as much as you can do with your talents, unless you remove the entire memory but I'm not sure that is a good thing. We will leave it up to those who know better. If Trask thinks they need your help for further blocks, he knows where to reach you. You did well son," Seth's father said smiling at him.

Neither a human psychiatrist, hypnosis nor any other kind of therapy could remove Seth's memory block from the Aaron's mind. Seth's power to cloud a mind was unmatched. Only another Shadow Master would be able to see the block, if there were another Shadow Master, still there was no reason for him to care about Aaron and his grief.

They stood in the driveway as the van drove away with its Knights and grieving passenger.

"Leander wants to move back to Fablehaven and stay. Is that OK?" Seth asked.

"Yes, he is welcome," Stan nodded his head with a smile. Leander smiled as Seth grinning ridiculously, and punched him in the arm at the acceptance.

"Son, you and Leander come home as soon as he packs up alright. This," Seth's dad said handing him his cell phone, "is for just in case, but _**please**_ don't find any more trouble, not tonight."

"Yes sir," Seth replied with a big smile.

Leander and Seth headed back to Leander's apartment.

The interaction between Seth, and his family and Aaron's grief over the loss of his made Leander certain that he needed to restore his own family and give hope to Seth's family also. His dragon family might not act the same way as humans but he wanted a familial bond. He couldn't actually meet them yet because letting any dragon scan him in his dragon form right now wasn't an option. He couldn't let them know he had become a Frost dragon nor that he had a human avatar, but he wanted them to know he was alive.

"Seth, ah," he started reluctantly.

"What?" he asked inattentively.

"I want to let my parents know Raxtus is alive. I've had a lot of time on my hands and I spent a lot of it thinking, especially about my parents. I believe they need to know I didn't die," Leander said slowly.

"**What**? B…but… we just had your memorial!" Seth sputtered incredulously.

"I know," he laughed without humor. "Sort of plays on a theme, don't you think? Axezeles now Raxtus, turning up alive after declared dead and you finding a long dead dragon and its hoard. Celebrant will expect us to perform miracles on a monthly basis now. Raxtus can't physically meet them because he mustn't be scanned. I still don't want them to know that the spell for a human avatar worked and I certainly don't want anyone knowing I am he. You can tell them that I approached you, that I have been in hiding because I was attacked in the swamp or something," Leander continued to Seth chagrin.

Then suddenly Seth's cunning mind took hold of the new challenge, a new scheme to pull off.

"Yeah, that you almost died but survived the spell. Now you're paranoid and fear for your life, so you left Fablehaven," Seth started weaving a tale, letting his imagination go wild.

"Well, I'll let you figure that one out, your good at making up stories," Leander said. He rolled his eyes when he noticed Seth's face go blank as his friend's mind went into overdrive.

"Thanks," Seth accepted the compliment absentmindedly. He was busy thinking up where Raxtus had been, being able to turn invisible was an advantage, he could have been perched on top of the governor's mansion for the last two months and no one would have known.

"This will be fun," Seth chuckled, his face glowing with mischief.


	7. Chapter 7

Reviving a Dead Dragon

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander sat in the cab of Seth's truck, waiting on Seth even though everyone had long gone. Seth sat with his hands on the wheel, fingers tapping absently, his mind obviously somewhere else. His face would light up for a moment then go blank again. Leander knew Seth was actively thinking, enthusiastically scheming for his benefit, but he was bored stiff. If Seth hadn't come up with anything yet, they could wait and figure it out later.

"Seth, let's go. I'm getting hungry again. We can do this later?" Leander asked as he lightly touched Seth's arm.

Seth jerked, surprised by the touch, he was so immersed in his thoughts he not only hadn't heard Leander's voice, but he'd forgotten that he was sitting next to him.

"Oh, sorry, I was just… never mind. What?" Seth apologized.

"I'm hungry, can we go?" Leander asked again.

"Sure. Yeah… to the house," Seth mumbled, started the truck and quickly left the parking lot, his mind still elsewhere.

They sped down the highway in relative silence, Seth occasionally nodding his head or mumbling. Leander closed his eyes remembering the tragedy they had just left. The haunted look on the boy's face, had really affected him. He was glad Seth had clouded Aaron's memory; he might have a chance at a fairly normal life. The EMTs would take him to the hospital as the abandoned victim of abduction; his horrible wounds and confused memory would be reason enough to believe the story. It would be just another mysterious serial killer on file for the police and public to worry about. He opened his eyes and noticed they were almost at the turn-off when Seth suddenly slammed on the brakes sending him flying head first into the dashboard.

"Crap, oh hell, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" Seth gasped as he watched Leander sit back his hand over his face.

Leander turned to Seth and mockingly asked. "Do I look alright?" He held out his hand covered in blood from the bleeding gash on his forehead just above his left eye.

Seth reached behind his seat and grabbed a skinny roll of paper towels. He quickly unwound several sheets and held the wadded paper out to Leander. Leander just looked at the offering not realizing what Seth wanted him to do. Seth sighed heavily and turned Leander's face toward him. He immediately laid the paper toweling against the large cut and pressed Leander's hand over the wound again.

"Now hold this tight against the cut," he told Leander slowly since he seemed in shock. "Oh hell, I guess I screwed this up, I thought… well, never mind what I thought. I need to get you home."

Seth started to step on the gas when Leander reached out and stopped him.

"Why stop here? What were you thinking?" he asked looking around with his good eye; the other, partially covered by the paper towel, was blurry, swelling and closing fast.

Seth looked over at Leander thinking if they were going to do what he had in mind they needed to do it fast. He was certain Leander's head needed stitches.

"I thought that you could invoke Raxtus there under the overpass. That way if any dragon was flying over they wouldn't see you. You only need to do it for a second, just long enough for me to snap a blurry picture of Raxtus," Seth explained quickly.

"Ok, let's do it," Leander nodded, even though his head ached and he was feeling nauseous.

"Are you sure?" Seth asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," Leander said less enthusiastically.

Seth drove the short distance, pulled over under the bridge and ran around to help Leander out of the truck. Traffic was light and there was no one coming from either direction.

"I can do this but I'll be naked when I change back so you better get some clothes out for me. I'll probably be standing on the ones I'm wearing now," Leander mumbled as he leaned against the truck. Seth didn't know that bit of information; Leander hoped that Seth wouldn't figure out that Kendra had originally found him in that state.

"Got it." Seth swiftly rummaged through Leander's suitcase and took out a t-shirt and sweatpants; there wasn't much else in the case.

"Got your camera ready? I'm not going to stay more than a second or two," he mumbled loudly. Leander stumbled clumsily to the gravel shoulder, still holding the wad of paper over his eye.

"Ready whenever you are," Seth nodded and held up his phone set in camera mode.

Leander closed his eyes and invoked his dragon self letting it take form. Raxtus, his eyes also closed, took one deep breath before changing back into Leander.

Just after the bright flash, Seth took several pictures as Raxtus briefly appeared, followed by another flash when Leander appeared and fell to the ground both naked and unconscious. Seth ran over to Leander, shoving the phone into his back pocket.

"Leander, wake up, come on. Oh man, what have I done," Seth groaned, as he looked Leander over. Leander moaned when Seth moved him. He didn't see any other wounds on his body so Seth quickly slid the sweat pants over Leander's feet and up his legs, feeling a bit weird dressing his friend. Pulling the t-shirt on over his wounded head gave Seth the most trouble, but he figured both his and Leander's clothes would be covered in blood so he stopped worrying about it. Now that Leander was dressed, Seth pulled him over his shoulder and quickly carried him to the passenger seat.

Seth ran back and picked up the clothes and bloody paper toweling lying imbedded in the gravel, Raxtus' weight had ground the grit in deep so he threw them into the truck bed. Somehow, during the swift change, Leander's wound stopped bleeding but it was a gaping wound that needed stitching if it were to heal cleanly. Seth knew he needed to get Leander home quickly. He buckled Leander into his seat before doing so for himself, pulled onto the empty highway and took the next exit and headed for home.

Seth cursed at himself for slamming on the brakes like a fool. The thought just hit him as he saw the overpass and he had reacted thoughtlessly, as usual. Still he had managed to get what Leander wanted, a current photo of Raxtus to prove he was still alive. He hoped that the quick change hadn't done undetectable damage to Leander's already injured head.

Just before Seth turned into the driveway, a large shadow passed overhead. He recognized it immediately, anyone else would think it was a swift moving cloud or an airplane but Seth knew it was a dragon. He wanted desperately to believe that it was Celebrant or Axezeles but knew it wasn't because the shadow skirted the outer boundary line of the sanctuary. It could possibly be one of Raxtus' half-brothers, still lingering around or did it mean a dragon had been close enough to scan Raxtus during the brief seconds he appeared?

Seth drove slowly through the gate as it opened for him, only to speed up to get to the house quickly. He hadn't thought of using his dad's cell phone since he was driving so fast. Everyone was going to be both surprised and angry at him for getting into trouble again. This just hadn't been his day.

As Seth opened the passenger door, Leander came to for a moment. "Don't say anything about Raxtus yet," he said making eye contact with Seth.

Seth nodded and Leander smiled briefly before passing out again.

Feeling a little déjà vu as he carried an unconscious Leander onto the porch yelling for help, Seth knew he had to make up a great story to get out of trouble this time. The dragon's shadow gave him just the fodder he needed to fuel his excuse for Leander's condition. But how was he going to keep the secret of Raxtus' photo on his dad's cell phone?

Leander woke up dizzy, lying on the table in the infirmary. One look around and he once again dreaded the needle that was closing in on his forehead, though Mrs. Larsen was smiling apologetically.

"You're awake," she commented, kindly. "This won't take long."

He didn't look forward to the burning of the deadening agent. Keeping his good eye open had helped neither the dizziness nor his dread of the impending addition to his pain. He closed his eyes feeling the fierce pounding in his temples; something more than just a gash in his skin was to blame. He feared that changing while injured had caused the pain, then the needle met its target and the extra pain pushed him back into unconsciousness.

Grandma Larson noticed when Leander's body suddenly relaxed into unconsciousness. There was nothing to do but get him stitched up quickly and get him to bed. His concussion was not severe but she felt sorry for the young man, stitching him up was becoming routine. She was determined to talk with him and convince him he needed to get into an easier line of work or perhaps just stay here and go to school for a while.

"There was nothing I could do dad," Seth explained contritely, watching his grandmother prepare to stitch up Leander, once again. "Some dragon just flew over and scared the crap out of me and I slammed on the brakes. I'm sorry Leander," Seth apologized again, unaware that Leander had fainted. "Dad, I didn't mean to get anyone hurt and I didn't call because I wanted to get home fast." Seth held his breath and hoped his excuse worked.

His dad sighed and looked at him, not angrily but sympathetically.

"Several strange sightings have been reported, low flying crop-dusters where there are no crops, in other words something big was flying around outside the sanctuary, like griffins or… dragons. Perhaps those two sons of Celebrant need a good talking to. We haven't said anything to him about them coming here just as you asked but there is no reason we have to keep quiet about them causing accidents."

"Accidents?" Seth asked, stunned. "As in more than just us?"

"Um huh," he confirmed.

"Whoa," Seth breathed, he hadn't expected that but it certainly got him off the hook.

Leander had asked him not to say anything about Raxtus yet. Seth had no idea what he was thinking and would have to wait until morning at least, Leander didn't look well.

_Leander was standing in a bright flower filled meadow and Raxtus was standing in front of him, their eyes locked on each other. The sky was clear blue and the sun was warm on his back. It felt strange seeing himself through both sets of eyes. As he contemplated the double exposure, the two of them sort of merged into a whitish ghostly figure. A pale skinned, very muscular young man emerged, with white hair, swirling blue green eyes, large leathery platinum colored dragon-wings shifted, stretched then settled in place behind him. He stood taking the place of the double exposure. He was extremely handsome even before he smiled. A bright but not blinding flash cleared his double vision and only Leander remained in the meadow. He looked around for the man and saw no one._

_"The change is coming. Will you be ready?" a calm voice whispered in his ear._

Leander sat up in bed, trembling, still dizzy, and definitely wide awake.


	8. Chapter 8

Friends and Other Confessions

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander's blinding headache was gone the next morning. He told Seth he would know when the time was right to let them know about Raxtus, so Seth downloaded the photo and deleted it from the camera.

Leander refused Bracken's healing mostly because he wanted to go through the natural healing process so he would know how humans felt. He was trying to learn proper facial expressions, to hide or reveal his emotions and pain. If he didn't know how emotions or pain actually felt he wouldn't a convincing job of acting some other time. He woke up every morning feeling a little better. He had neither a reoccurrence of the strange dream nor felt any magic returning.

One of the first things Leander noticed was that Unleea was no longer around.

"Where's Unleea?" He asked Seth on the third morning.

"She's gone to work at the Living Mirage sanctuary, they have some promising candidates for shadow charmers and they want to steer them in the right direction. Unleea, as you know, is very persuasive. She learned a lot living in the mind of a dragon for hundreds of years, including patience," Seth answered. "She can take care of herself plus she carries the lost knowledge of the shadow charmers in her head. I can think of no one more suitable to train and keep rookies on the right track," he laughed.

It took seven days for him to recover completely. So on the eighth day, Bracken and Kendra joined him for a walk to the little barn for the exercise, to talk and get out of the house.

Although Bracken had removed the distractor field around the little barn, Leander entered knowing that nothing would pop up out of the woodwork to get him. Other than the people at Fablehaven, everyone who knew about him was under the impression that Leander Day, the tracker, was either dead from the wraith/demon attack or at the very least no longer at Fablehaven. Still he was anxious; this place triggered bad memories. Hearing Bracken mutter something under his breath and assuming he was casting a protection spell, Leander relaxed and sat on the floor.

"We are safe. No one knows we are here. I have raised wards on the building. Nothing and no one can get in if we don't invite them. Not even my mother!" Bracken laughed sitting across from Leander.

"Since it's safe would you please invoke Raxtus for me? I want to see him," Kendra asked grabbing Leander's arm as she sat down next to him.

"I don't dare," Leander shook his head, looking sadly at her hand. He felt nothing but the warmth of her skin against his.

"No one is here, no one will know. Please! I want to see him again!" Kendra argued, shaking his arm pleadingly.

"I _don't_ want to invoke him again – OK!" Leander shouted at the floor, shaking his head. Looking up at her apologetically, because she flinched at his outburst, he then calmly and quietly explained. "Look, it hurts too much to feel what he feels. He doesn't feel the fairy magic flow between you and him and it saddens him. He is so depressed about being who he is. I don't want to feel that and I _know_ he doesn't. I promise I won't renounce him but I don't want to invoke him either," he explained, hoping that she would be satisfied with his promise not to end Raxtus' existence.

"Don't do this to yourself, please!" Bracken begged softly, reaching out and lightly touching his arm.

Leander looked at Bracken and could see the pain in his eyes, he had never seen him so emotional and it was shocking. Like Raxtus, Bracken usually kept his emotions to himself.

"I'm glad you didn't get a chance to renounce him," Bracken said with a relieved sigh, "and that you say you won't do it now, but don't keep him locked away either."

Bracken was an ancient unicorn, but it had been over a thousand years since he'd invoked his four-legged self. He had turned his adult horn over to become part of the elaborate protection to keep the demon prison locked. However, he did have possession of his other two horns, the one that had grown through his childhood and his more powerful adolescent horn. The horns gave him most of his magical and healing powers but without his adult horn, he was unable to revert to his original unicorn form.

"I can't fix myself. I can't be 'me' again. I sacrificed that part of myself for the good of our worlds. Still, I suffer because of it every day. It took me centuries to feel okay in this body. If I could be 'me' for one minute I would do it - just to know it was real and that I _was_ that being, to have that option would be incredible. I would give it up - I would sacrifice it again just as quickly no question about it, but you…. you don't have to do that. There is no reason.

"Raxtus is part of you and he is our friend too. We miss him terribly, every day. Even as we are with you and enjoy being with you, we miss him," he said fervently. Unicorns were normally solitary creatures and voluntarily submitting to remain a human had been a difficult transition for Bracken but centuries later, he had finally come to terms with his permanent situation. Meeting Kendra had also made his current form more fulfilling.

Leander respected Bracken; Raxtus had known and trusted him his whole life. As young and inexperienced at being human as Leander was Bracken had been a calming and influential part of his new life. Bracken naturally empathized with Leander, though their situations were different. So Leander listened attentively to him because he never spoke trivially.

"I am happy that you are comfortable in your human form but I think you are less than you could be if you reject the dragon part of yourself. Raxtus is damaged and hurt. You need to help him become healthy and strong, and then together you can possibly do great things," Bracken continued, with great passion.

Leander felt tears run down his face as he thought of Raxtus damaged and hurt, hiding in the back of Leander's mind, living a vicarious dream life through Leander. He was unable to influence events, or to share his portion of their mind and memories, because it was unreachable by Leander. Bracken was right and he was wrong for abandoning a vital part of himself, rejecting the runt dragon only because he was uncomfortable with his feelings.

"Can I help him? How?" Leander pondered aloud, asking no one in particular. He really wanted to know. He didn't like the thought that Raxtus was somewhere in his head damaged, still tortured by his memories of what sadistic dragons had done to him. Unlike the torture the wraith had created in Leander's mind, Raxtus' pain was real.

"How can I rescue him?" Leander asked, looking at Kendra. Suddenly he wanted to rescue Raxtus as Seth had rescued him from the torturous dream world of the wraith's mental manipulation.

"Rescue him?" Kendra asked, confused at Leander's phrase. "What do you mean?"

"How do _I _deliver him from the centuries of humiliation and torture he has endured? That agony lives in his mind every second, he has been hiding for centuries to avoid more of it. How do I do that for him? Can I? Is it even possible?

"I don't feel his pain now. I know about it but unless I invoke him, I don't suffer because of it. Within moments of invoking Raxtus, I feel the pain of the humiliation and memories of torture, the distaste of being the runt dragon, the dragon king's joke of a son, and then _I_ fade away sort of like falling asleep. I am vaguely aware of what was happening but unable to act or react. He tries to act and react normally but has to deal with all that painful history by himself. And when I come back, it does just the reverse until he fades away to be just a sleepy dragon in my mind. There he does not have to deal with the pain; he can't dwell on his misery. He is aware what is going on like a dream, but he is not suffering. So we both feel better," Leander declared, the view of his friends blurred as more tears filled his eyes and ran down his face. He rubbed his hand over his eyes wiping away his tears.

"I know Raxtus was, _is_, a disappointment for my father and I would be a disappointment for my mother if she saw me - him. _**How**_ do I fix all that?" he sobbed, desperately wanting to do just that.

Bracken's and Kendra's eyes also filled with tears, sensitive to his frustration. The gentle young man in front of them was totally vulnerable, crying like a small child desperately trying to dry his tears on his shirtsleeves. His task when described with such detail seemed unreachable.

"He always seemed so happy when I saw him, a cheerful little dragon so happy and eager to please," Kendra spoke though her tears.

"He was – when he was with you, his friends. When he wasn't with you though he just existed, flying from place to place invisible or hiding in his lair. He would go through the shrine portal hoping the Queen had something for me to do. She knew when I was there even if I was invisible. She frequently found safe things for me to do to keep me busy," Leander explained suddenly channeling Raxtus' feelings as his own. He gave up trying to control or dry the tears streaming down his face letting them run to drip off his chin onto the dirt floor.

"I have never been happier than these last few weeks with you, here, a normal human staying with friends. You can understand why I don't want to invoke him and feel that age old pain again," he said, sniffing back the tears that started running through his nose.

"Yes, I do," Bracken replied, wiping the tears from his face acutely aware of Leander's mixed-up emotions. "But unless you try to fix him it will never get better. His pain will bleed through as it is doing right now and eventually eat you up. We will find a way to fix this. It may take while but we will find a way," Bracken affirmed, touching Leander's arm lightly.

"I know we will find a way. When you set your mind to a task, it always gets done. I don't know what I'd do without my friends," Leander sniffed then wiped away his tears and smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Giving In

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

All three of them dried theirs tears, smiling from one to the other.

"Can I?" Kendra asked again, looking sheepishly at Leander.

"Can you - what?" Leander asked confused, not knowing what she was asking.

"Can I see him? Will you invoke him?" she replied innocently, repeating her earlier request.

Leander stared at her, startled. Hadn't she been listening to him at all?

"Maybe having a normal avatar now will help him cope better," Bracken added. "You haven't given him much of a chance to adjust since you took over." Bracken's expression was one of curious expectation. One eyebrow rose and a small smile appeared on his lips as if asking - 'did you really listen to what I had to say on the matter?'

Leander looked at Bracken as he spoke. He didn't want to think he was right but knew that he probably was and then he hung his head, in resignation.

"No, I haven't given him much of a chance to get use to the idea that I'm normal and that he is no longer a total freak," he replied staring at the dirt floor. He looked up at Kendra's hopeful pleading expression.

Her teary eyes glistened as she faced him. 'Please,' she silently moved her lips, her bright smile weakening.

"Okay," he sighed as he caved in to her request. He heard her draw a deep breath and make a happy little noise in the back of her throat. Though he didn't look up, he knew that her smile had again widened.

He moved to the center of the building, took a deep breath and smiled sadly, as he looked up at Kendra and Bracken. Light flashed and the larger bulk of Raxtus stood where Leander had been.

"Raxtus!" Kendra yelled and ran to him.

"Hi Kendra," he answered confused. "Uh, I was just here you know. I am Leander or at least we have the same mind."

Kendra laid her head on Raxtus' side stroking his smooth scales, listening as his voice rumbled through his chest. She loved the way his multi-toned voice sounded. She missed it so much.

"Do you?" Bracken asked, his brow arched questioningly as he rose and walked toward the small dragon.

"I think so," he replied thoughtfully. He was thrilled to see his friends, and Kendra's warm body lying against his side was both wonderful and depressing.

"So how do _you_ feel about him not wanting to be the dragon part of himself?" Bracken asked.

"I don't blame him. I wouldn't be me if I could help it. He is normal and I never will be. I get that I'm no longer the universal freak but I don't want him to feel my pain," he answered enjoying Kendra's closeness.

He loved his friends, differently than Leander but just as passionately. He felt his damaged ego and painful past recapture his mind and though he tried to push it to the back of his mind, dark unwanted memories flooded him. Large tears filled his icy blue dragon eyes and dripped onto the floor.

"Bracken, I grew up with you being around, not every day but so often it seemed that way; then you suddenly disappeared and were gone for ages. I always thought of you as a big brother and when you disappeared, my life got lonely and infinitely more complicated. I missed you terribly while you were gone," Raxtus told him, emotionally. "I never knew your other form. You have always looked like this so I know you no other way but I missed your presence in my life."

Bracken compassionately rested his hand on Raxtus' neck.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry. I know I let a lot of people down. I thought I could get around in the Living Mirage easily and even after the Sphinx imprisoned me, I thought I could get away. I had no idea how clever and truly ingenious that scoundrel was. I thought there was no prison that could hold me. I paid dearly for my arrogance," Bracken lamented.

"I am so grateful to you for saving me, I know what you did," Raxtus sniffed, thinking that he would be dead if it wasn't for them. "I think that maybe you are right about us not having exactly the same mind. I know him, I feel him but I can't feel what he feels after a few moments of being me. There is just a few fleeting seconds when I am him and he is me but it fades quickly. Right now I feel a strong and … Oh!" he gasped his large wet eyes got even larger as he took in the new sensation of different magic.

"I can feel my dragon magic now too. Wow, it's so different." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes feeling the depth of the magic flowing through him. Several moments passed as he felt and reveled in the newness, and strangely the comfort, of dragon magic.

"I can feel the fear aura now, at least I think that's what it is," he opined. Excited, he opened his eyes, his head swiveling back and forth between Bracken and Kendra. "Bracken, may I try it? Kendra, I don't want to hurt you or make you afraid but I would love to try it," he asked tentatively. "Will you be afraid of me afterward?"

"I know you won't hurt me. I would like you to try and see if it works. Yes, of course, let me be your guinea pig," she said and walked in front of him.

Bracken walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist protectively and nodded his head, smiling at Raxtus. "Ready!"

Kendra smiled and nodded as she grasped Bracken's arms holding them against her.

"Really? … Okay… just a little thought and there," he said aloud watching their faces as he felt for and loosened the control that kept the aura tightly bound. It was similar to moving a muscle, it felt like he was making a frown, very slowly.

Kendra's eyes grew wide, a small whimper escaped from her lips and she began to shiver. Bracken's eyes also reacted as his arms tightened around Kendra. He too shivered, one foot moved, ready to back away.

"Enough … now … done," he said out loud as he felt himself adjust and dampen the fear aura, turning the frown back into a smile. He felt good that it worked, that he could control it but also felt bad that they were scared of him.

"Whoa, that was strong," Bracken said loosening his tightened grip on Kendra's waist.

"I almost wet myself," she grimaced and took a deep breath. "You were scary but I still like you."

"Really?" he said again with his toothy smile looking a bit proud. He knew he had let only a little of his aura out because they were so close.

"Yes," she shivered and smiled.

"Do you feel any breath weapons?" Bracken asked him. He wanted to push Raxtus a little, try to make him _and_ Leander realized his potential. If he was that scary maybe, he could do some other dragon magic well too.

"I don't know. I guess I could breathe with intent and see what happens." He shrugged, his wings flexing slightly. Suddenly he felt the urge to fly but dampened the thought. Now was not the time to do anything that stupid.

"I like that 'breathe with intent'. Let us get out of your way first," Bracken laughed and pulled Kendra with him toward the door.

"No wait, open the door and then step back behind me. If I can't control whatever comes out at least it won't be confined to this room," Raxtus said worriedly.

"Good idea." Bracken nodded and opened the wide double doors.

"Oh, Seth is going to be so mad that he missed this," Kendra giggled. She held Bracken's hand as they re-crossed the room to stand behind and to one side of Raxtus. Raxtus swiveled his head toward her and grinned.

"Wait and see if anything happens first," he said hopefully, still remembering his previous years of failure during training. He turned his head back toward the open door.

He closed his eyes and for some unknown reason thought of the triggered memory. The first thing he remembered: the crackle of ice crystals on the inside of his shell. He opened his eyes and focused out the door, no one was there. He took a deep breath and slightly opened his mouth and 'breathed with intent'. The strange flow down his long neck was intense as he felt the magic come to his call, the coldness of his breath was exhilarating. He watched as the wall around the door of the little barn frosted over and the grass outside turned white. He stopped blowing after a few seconds, was entranced at what he had done.

"Whoa!" he said quietly. Gazing at what he had easily created.

"WOW!" Bracken whooped and ran to the door. He ran his hand inches away from the frosty wood and felt the intense icy chill radiating, cooling his hand. "Raxtus this is amazing." He looked out the door at the frosted grass.

"Kendra, come see how far it goes." He turned back to her, inviting her with his hand.

She walked to the door and reached for Bracken's hand, she could see the frosty ground went for hundreds of feet maybe to the edge of the meadow she wasn't sure. But she could see that the frost had penetrated the wood of the building, the open wooden door was frosty white on the outside of the barn too.

"You did it!" she crowed. Releasing Bracken's hand, she ran back to Raxtus. She hugged his neck and she reached her hand up to his nose. He lowered his head and nuzzled her hand, and it didn't matter that he didn't feel her fairy magic warm him. He felt the warmth of their friendship even stronger.

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**AN: I love writing this story and I know people are reading it but I'm getting no reviews. Just let me know something, am I doing this story right. I may just give up and not finish it if I don't hear from my readers.**


	10. Chapter 10

Speaking of the Dead

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

The frost on the grass melted almost immediately in the sunlight and summer heat. Bracken watched the frost melt on the outside of the building too but it took longer since it penetrated the entire thickness of the wall.

"Well you did 'breathe with intent'. Can you do anything else?" He asked curiously.

"Not sure," he said, moving his head away from Kendra's hand, he looked up at Bracken's proud smile. He smiled a great toothy smile in return.

"Somehow that came naturally, I'm sure I'd need training to pull up something else." But after saying that he began to feel the magic trying to answer his call and felt warmth in his belly.

"Don't worry even if you can't - that was amazing," Bracken continued. "I don't think anything could have escaped that blast."

Raxtus frowned, his expression concerned. "But I don't want to hurt anyone," he said, nervously shaking his head. The warmth in his belly subsided with his anxiety.

"I know you don't," Kendra said kindheartedly, "but you will be able to defend yourself now."

Raxtus looked at his friends. He saw their smiles, he knew why they were here and he was grateful for their concern and their praise. He also knew he couldn't stay to learn dragon magic. He still wanted what he always wanted, to be normal and the only way that was possible was to be Leander.

"Thanks, learning that I could do that - well - I feel much better, not like a complete failure - but I think I should be going. Since I'm dead, I would hate to get caught," he said feeling a little uncomfortable and slightly tired from the magical exertion. He knew from his attempts at training, more training was needed build strength and stamina for extended use of breath weapons. Since Kendra brought it up, he thought seriously about situations where he would have to defend himself. As a dragon, he would have to fight and often and he wasn't ready for that type of life now, if ever.

Was he still a coward? He didn't think so but he definitely wasn't a fighter.

"Leander knows what's changed. He can tell you. I love you Kendra, Bracken. Thanks for taking good care of us." Raxtus smiled. He was happy he got the time with them but was ready to go back to sleep, looking forward to his wonderful dream life as Leander. He liked being in the background painlessly watching himself being normal for a change.

"Don't go yet," Kendra groaned then suddenly turned around.

A flash of light lit up the entire room and Leander stood where Raxtus had just been. He had a curious look on his face and did not speak for a moment.

"You should put your clothes on," Bracken commented.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he replied bending over to pull his clothes out of the dirt floor where Raxtus' weight had pressed them. He shook out the dirt before redressing.

"Okay I'm dressed," he told Kendra, still looking a bit bemused as she turned around.

"What?" Kendra asked as she approached him. He just stood there looking dazed.

"I know what he means now…," he mumbled and drew a deep breath. "Wow. That moment when we are one, it was incredible. Thanks again Bracken, that helped tremendously. Raxtus is much happier now." Leander smiled. "He was amazing wasn't he? Really, really remarkable. Incredible!" he bragged effusively as if he was talking about his big brother or his best friend.

"Yes, he was but he also said he was dead. It was as if he wanted to remain that way." Bracken's tone and expression was at odds with Leander's obvious glee. He was confused and upset with Raxtus' attitude.

"He has an idea and I agree with him that he needs to remain 'dead' for at least the near future," Leander explained soberly, pulling the reins on his excitement.

"Is that what he shared with you during his seconds with you?" Kendra asked curious.

"No it was a little more intimate than that," he chuckled. "We still share each other's thoughts to a degree and I share his assessment of the situation. He needs to remain 'unfound'," he ended on a very serious note.

Kendra thought that he sounded way past his visual age of sixteen years and definitely more serious than she had ever heard either Raxtus or Leander before.

They had turned to leave the little barn when Leander stopped short. He turned back and looked down at the dirt. Something wasn't right there was an inconsistency here. The multiple large footprints of Raxtus were clearly visible along with all of the human footprints. He immediately knew the older more eroded footprints from his first time in the little barn, when they had performed the spell. Close by were the scuffed prints of when he had reluctantly invoked Raxtus to fall asleep and listen for the dream girl. Most noticeably were the deep sharp footprints he had just made. Side by side, the tracker in him assessed them and they did not make sense. What struck him as odd was the older footprints were smaller than the new ones. Any tracker would know that they should have been larger than the new crisp indentations in the dirt. Because of simple dirt shifting erosion, the older footprints had spread. That is if Raxtus' feet were the same size as before.

Leander's heart raced as adrenalin suddenly rushed through his veins. His mind went into frantic mental overdrive trying to explain it. This was not reasonable. Could it be that Raxtus was growing? Impossible, right?

He fell to his knees looking at the newest footprint and held out his hand as he had done on his first day as a tracker. There it was, undeniable proof, the footprint was larger, at least an inch further from the edge of his fingertips. His hand hadn't shrunk so that meant Raxtus had grown. He sat back staggered at the thought that Raxtus was actually growing.

Bracken turned to see Leander sitting on the ground, his hand spread out across the footprint. With perfect recall of the first time he had seen Leander measuring the prints, he immediately recognized what Leander was struggling with. Raxtus had left a larger print. He was growing. Leander's body had remained rail thin even with his unrelenting appetite. It made sense now; he was feeding the dragon inside also.

Kendra, noticing Bracken's attention had shifted, also turned to see Leander sitting on his knees on the ground looking stunned. "What is it?" Kendra asked confused by the sudden stop.

Leander jumped up when he heard her voice. He rushed to Kendra and wrapped her in a big bear hug, lifting her from the ground.

"Thank you. Thank you," he murmured into her ear, as he sat her back on her feet. Still clinging to her with his emotions frayed, tears began to fall. He was excited, frightened and elated, in short he was feeling very overwhelmed. Raxtus not only had control over principal dragon magic, he was also growing.

"What for?" she asked, more confused than ever. She looked up at Bracken as she wrapped her arms around Leander. She heard him start to cry but couldn't tell if he was happy or sad.

"For having me invoke Raxtus. I wouldn't have known about all this, I wouldn't have realized," he sobbed emotionally, his head on her shoulder, tears flowing wetting her shirt. Their height difference made his back bend in a most uncomfortable looking position to do so.

"Realized what?" she asked, looking at Bracken, who was now patting Leander's hunched back.

Leander clung to her sobbing uncontrollably unable to answer.

Bracken answered her with a huge smile on his face. "On top of everything else, Raxtus has grown and is still growing."

Leander was overwhelmed so much so that they couldn't get him to move. After he stopped sobbing, he froze with his arms still wrapped around Kendra. Bracken and Kendra eventually loosened his clinging hug and sat him on the dirt floor of the little barn. He sat there wide eyed staring into space.

What was he going to do? Again, things were changing too fast for him to handle easily.

What did it mean?

His mind ran in circles.

What did it mean?

Was it better to know? Was this surprising bit of information really good news?

Would Raxtus grow into a full sized dragon? Maybe…

Would he become a normal dragon with a normal avatar? The answer to that was no.

He wasn't normal. He could never be a normal dragon. He was a product of selective breeding by his father and mother.

What did it mean?

Was it better to know that he was a frost dragon? If enemies found out, they would hunt him down and kill him. He had to let his dragon side go to stay safe - right.

What did it mean?

What was the old saying? Be careful what you wish for you just might get it. Though he had only wished for a normal avatar so he could play with his friend Seth, he had gotten much more than he ever expected or even anticipated.

Either way, his life as a dragon was cursed.

Again, what did it mean?

He came back to the same answer. The only way for him to be normal was to remain human. Remain human and forget magic. Forget he was ever a dragon. At least he had the option to remain human, it was better than what he had before.

However - perhaps in a hundred years or so, he'd have other options, he had that advantage over being an actual human - he had time to wait. Yet, he thought miserably, he didn't want to wait.

Sitting on the floor, surrounded by friends, tears began to flow again, a strangling anguish formed in his chest. He lay down in the dirt curling into a ball - letting racking sobs release his confusion and frustration of being so close to what he wanted and having it brutally stripped away - by the curse of his birth.

Surprised by his negative reaction to what appeared, to them, to be good news, neither Kendra nor Bracken understood what was going through Leander's mind.

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**AN: If you want more please let me know.**


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